Patent ID: 7950998

Claim:
A billing management system for a game machine comprising: a billing server connected to a communication network and a game machine that can transmit and receive information to and from the billing server through the communication network, wherein: said billing server performs a billing management process on the basis of billing information sent from said game machine to said billing server on a pay-per-use basis; said game machine comprises a game control unit executing a game program in accordance with an input signal, a game play restricting unit counting up a play count every time a game is played by the execution of said game program and restricting the execution of the game program in said game control unit when the counted-up play count reaches or exceeds a preset count limit, and a billing information transmitter transmitting billing information to said billing server through the communication network at a preset timing, the billing information including at least the play count; said billing server comprises a billing information receiver receiving the billing information sent from said game machine, a billing unit performing a billing process for each game machine on the basis of the received billing information, and a count limit renewing unit which, every time the billing server receives said billing information, renews the count limit of said game machine that has transmitted the billing information and transmits the renewed count limit back to said game machine that has transmitted the billing information; and the game play restricting unit of said game machine receives the renewed count limit and changes a current count limit to said renewed value.