AU723324B2 - Game feature for a gaming machine - Google Patents

Description

1

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 ARISTOCRAT LEISURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT o Invention Title: Game feature for a gaming machine The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:j 2 Background of the Invention The present invention relates to gaming machines of the type generally referred to as slot machines, fruit machines, or poker macines, and in particular the invention provides a game to be played on such a machine.

Description of the prior art Players who regularly play gaming machines, quickly tire of particular games and it is therefore necessary for manufacturers of gaming machines to come up with either innovative game features that add interest to the games provided on such machines, or provide new games in order to keep the players amused and willing to continue playing gaming machines.

Recently, the gaming machine market has experienced considerable growth and there is intense competition between manufacturers of gaming machines to supply the various existing and new venues. Clearly the revenue raised by an operator of a particular venue depends on the amount of :money wagered. The amount of money wagered on a particular machine is related to the popularity of the machine. Thus when selecting a supplier of :::.gamning machines, the operator of venue often pays close attention to the popularity of the various games with their patrons.

Therefore, gaming machine manufacturers are keen to devise games which are popular with players, as a mechanism for improving sales.

In particular, manufacturers regularly devise new games or game features which have not previously been seen on slot machines, in order to stimulate renewal of player interest.

The two most popular types of gaming machine either offer card games, particularly draw poker and variations of that game, or are machines of the traditional. and somewhat confusingly named, poker machine style (also known as fruit machines) in which the display means comprises a set of rotatable reels, each carrying a plurality of symbols, or a video simulation thereof. The present invention relates to a novel game feature which can be used to give added player interest to such gamnes.

Summary of the Invention The present invention consists of a gaming machine having display means, and game control means arranged to control images displayed in a display window on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game wherein a plurality of indicia are randomly selected and displayed in a screen image on the display window and, if a winning combination occurs, the machine pays a prize, the game being characterised in that one or more particular symbols are provided which when those symbols appear at predetermined locations on the display window in a current screen display, the prize awarded for a winning combination arising in that current screen display is increased by the game control means by a predetermined factor, the increase being determined by the number of such symbols occurring at predetermined locations in the current screen display wherein the predetermined locations include any position on the display window of the display means, regardless of whether or not the special symbol forms part of the winning combination.

In a preferred embodiment, the predetermined locations include any position on a pay line of the display means.

~Preferably, each symbol occurrence repeats the win once. Thus, if there are three symbols on the pay lines of the display means, any win on the display means is repeated three times thus, the win is paid four times in o total.

Brief Description of the Drawings So 25 Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 shows a gaming machine having a video simulation of a rotating reel display adapted to play a game incorporating the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates a screen display for the gaming machine shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a schematic drawing of a game control means for implementing the game of the present invention.

3a Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments In the following detailed description, the methodology of the embodiments will be described, and it is to be understood that it is within the capabilities of the non-inventive worker in the art to introduce the methodology on any standard microprocessor-based gaming machine by means of appropriate programming.

0 0 *0 0 0* 0 0 0 Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the first embodiment of the invention is illustrated in which a slot machine 20 of the type having a video display screen 30 which displays a plurality of rotatable reels 32 carrying symbols, of which one token symbol, S, is indicated at 34 is arranged to pay a prize on the occurrence of a predetermined symbol or combination of symbols.

In the slot machine 20 illustrated in Figure 1, the game is initiated by a push button 36, however it will be recognised by persons skilled in the art that this operating mechanism might be replaced by a pull handle or other type of actuator such as a touch screen "button", in other embodiments of the invention. The top box on top of the slot machine 20 carries an artwork panel 38 which displays the various winning combinations for which a prize is paid on the machine.

The poker game played on the machine is a relatively standard poker 15 game which includes a three by five symbol display window, generally indicated at 50, and allows multiple pay lines, numbered 1, 2 and 3, best seen in Figure 2.

The symbols which are present on the "reels" of the gaming machine may include the following:- 20 KING-K QUEEN- Q LEMON L BELL- B ORANGE -0O JACK- J Other symbols may be present. As is well known in the art, initiation of a game causes the machine to simulate the spinning of the reels until the reels slow, or appear to slow down and stop "spinning" to leave a current screen display of "static reels". The current screen display at the end of the "spin" displays the results of the game on the pay lines. Credits are awarded for particular combinations of symbols appearing on the paylines in the current screen display. The symbols also include a special symbol 52, indicated by SS but which could be any suitable chosen symbol.

The occurrence of the special symbol anywhere in the display window in a current screen display, i.e. on any of the three pay lines, repeats any win by 41- the number of special symbols in the window. Thus in the example shown in Figure 2, a 100 credit win which would normally be paid for the five JACK's, is repeated another three times because of the occurrence of the three special symbols. Thus 400 credits are paid in total.

Although the embodiment described above relates to a gaming machine having a video display means, the game could advantageously be implemented on a more traditional style gaming machine having rotatable reels controlled by stepper motors, which is particularly advantageous since it tends to be more difficult to implement innovative game features on such machines as compared with the more flexible gaming machines employing video displays.

The special symbols may appear in the display window 50. They do not have to appear on a pay line. For example, if a player was only playing pay line number 1, a special symbol on line 2 could also repeat the win.

Further, although the above describes the win being repeated once 15 for each special symbol appearing, each special symbol occurring could multiply the win by a particular factor. For example, one special symbol appearing in the window could double the win, two symbols may multiply .the win four times, three symbols could multiply the win by eight times etc.

The game may be implemented on a standard gaming machine 20 control processor 31 such as is schematically illustrated in figure 3. The :processor forms part of a controller 36 which receives touch input signals from touch sensors 32 on the screen 30 as well as receiving coin input pulses ~from a coin chute mechanism 33 and driving a coin payout mechanism 34.

2It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous 25 variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (5)

1. A gaming machine having display means, and game control means arranged to control images displayed in a display window on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game wherein a plurality of indicia are randomly selected and displayed in a screen image on the display window and, if a winning combination occurs, the machine pays a prize, the game being characterised in that one or more particular symbols are provided which when those symbols appear at predetermined locations on the display window in a current screen display, the prize awarded for a winning combination arising in that current screen display is increased by the game control means by a predetermined factor, the increase being determined by the number of such symbols occurring at predetermined locations in the current screen display wherein the predetermined locations include ahy position on the display window of the display means, regardless 15 of whether or not the special symbol forms part of the winning combination.

2. A gaming machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each symbol S.occurrence repeats the win once. A gaming machine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the :0 occurrence of each symbol multiplies the win by a particular factor.

4. A gaming machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein the factor is two times.

5. A gaming machine as claimed in any preceding claim and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as shown in the accompanying drawings

25.. Dated this sixteenth day of June 2000 ARISTOCRAT LEISURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F.B. RICE CO.