Patent ID: 8052520

Claim:
A method that utilizes a processor to coordinate sales transactions in a video game, the method comprising: maintaining a record of items for sale by characters in a video game or users playing the characters; receiving a request from a terminal associated with a first user playing a first character or recognizing an action of the first character in the video game, wherein the request or the action is to designate a first item as a sales item; updating, using the processor, the record of items indicating the first item as a sales item so that a second character or a second user playing the second character can purchase the first item from the first user or the first character, wherein updating does not require that the first player stays in or moves to a space of the video game that is designated for sales transactions; and providing for display, without receiving an input from the second user, a visual effect visually associated with the first character to the second user, wherein the visual effect indicates to the second user that the first character has at least one associated item that is being offered for sale, and wherein the display of the visual effect is automatically provided when a differential distance between a location of the first character and a location of the second character is less than a determined amount.