Patent ID: 8360846

Claim:
A gaming console for playing a base game, the gaming console comprising: a display configured to display images including images of the base game; a game controller configured to determine game play data including (1) the amount of a wager placed by a player on a played base game and (2) the occurrence of a played base game, to control the images to be displayed on the display, to play the base game, to determine one or more random events and to award a prize if at least one of said one or more random events includes a predefined winning event or combination of events; and wherein, said images including a visual character, said visual character being animated and periodically displayed to communicate information to the player by performing actions on the display indicative of the information, said visual character having an association with a function of the gaming console, and wherein the appearance of the visual character on the display is triggered by at least one of said one or more random events related to an amount of the wager placed on a played base game as determined by said game controller, said visual character performing actions related to a rate of play by the player of the base game such that the actions of the character progressively slow as the rate of play slows, and wherein the actions of the visual character stop when the rate of play is below a predefined critical level, the predefined critical level based on a function of at least one of said game play data determined by said game controller over a predefined time period.