Patent ID: 8882595

Claim:
A method of enabling virtual gameplay on a computing device in communication with a data storage medium, the method comprising the steps of: providing a video game environment on the computing device, enabling a player to play a game via a character; receiving, via an input device in communication with the computing device, an input of a barcode scanned from a real world object not created for use in the game, by the player, and storing the barcode on the data storage medium; querying, via the computing device, a database of barcodes to determine particulars of the real world object that was scanned; retrieving, via the computing device, a virtual object from the data storage medium based on the barcode input by matching the particulars of the real world object to a corresponding virtual object; and allowing the player's character to own or interact with the virtual object in the game environment; wherein the retrieving step includes determining a general category or class of the scanned real world object in the real world, and wherein the virtual object is assigned from an equivalent or similar general category or class in the game environment.