Patent ID: 8277316

Claim:
A method of allowing a video game user to use a weapon targeting marker to both (a) target a virtual weapon and (b) progressively pan in a desired direction a displayed 3-D viewpoint within a three-dimensional video game computer graphics display system to reveal additional portions of a 3D virtual world, the method comprising: displaying, on a display in a display area, an image of a three-dimensional virtual world viewed from a viewpoint, the three-dimensional virtual world including at least one virtual object which the user can control a virtual weapon to aim at; dividing said display area into at least an outer region and an inner region, the outer region surrounding the inner region; displaying a weapon targeting marker on said display at a position that is at least in part responsive to a user input, said weapon targeting marker indicating a location within said three-dimensional virtual world at which said virtual weapon is aiming; positioning the weapon targeting marker at a position that is responsive to user manipulation of an input device, thereby allowing the user to target the at least one displayed virtual object; progressively panning the 3-D viewpoint to reveal additional portions of the 3D world for display while simultaneously changing the location of the weapon targeting marker within the three-dimensional virtual world when the user manipulates the input device to position the weapon targeting marker within the outer region; and changing the location of the weapon targeting marker within the three-dimensional virtual world without changing the 3-D viewpoint when the user manipulates the input device to move the weapon targeting marker within the inner region.