(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8,529,350 B2 Angelopoulos (45) Date of Patent: Sep

US00852935OB2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8,529,350 B2 Angelopoulos (45) Date of Patent: Sep. 10, 2013 (54) METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INCREASED 5,971,855 A 10/1999 Ng REALISM IN VIDEO GAMES 6,080,063 A 6/2000 Khosla 6,135,881 A 10/2000 Abbott et al. 6,200,216 B1 3/2001 Peppel (75) Inventor: Athanasios Angelopoulos, San Diego, 6,261,179 B1 T/2001 Shoto et al. CA (US) 6,292.706 B1 9/2001 Birch et al. 6,306,033 B1 10/2001 Niwa et al. (73) Assignee: White Knuckle Gaming, LLC, 6,347.993 B1 2/2002 Kondo et al. Bountiful, UT (US) 6,368,210 B1 4/2002 Toyohara et al. s 6,412,780 B1 7/2002 Busch (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 2005,639 R 2. Salyean et al. patent is extended or adjusted under 35 2002/0086733 A1* 7/2002 Wang .............................. 463/42 U.S.C. 154(b) by 882 days. OTHER PUBLICATIONS (21) Appl. No.: 12/547,359 Weters, NFL 2K1. FAQ by Weters, Hosted by GameFAQs, Version 3.1, http://www.gamefaqs.com/console? dreamcast/file/914206/ (22) Filed: Aug. 25, 2009 8841, last accessed Jul. 2, 2009. 65 P PublicationO O Dat Sychoy Bubba Crusty,y, NFL 2K1. FAQ byy Tazzmission, Hosted by (65) O DO GameFAQs, http://www.gamefacs.com/console? dreamcast/file? US 201O/OO29352 A1 Feb. 4, 2010 914206/8814, last Version 2.0, accessed Jul. 2, 2009. Related U.S. Application Data (Continued) (62) Division of application No. 10/266,795, filed on Oct. Primary Examiner — Damon Pierce 8, 2002. (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — White Knuckle Gaming, LLC (51) Int. Cl. A63F 3/2 (2006.01) (57) ABSTRACT (52) USPCU.S. Cl. .................... 463/42; 463/30: 463/31: 463/32 A systemSVst andd menoamethod Iorf updatingdati parameterst off a videovid game is provided. As events occur in the real world that may (58) Field of Classification Search influence a game attribute, a parameteris recorded on a server. USPC .................................. 463/1, 4, 23, 30, 42, 43 A video game player may sconnect to the server and download See application file for complete search history. the parameter. The parameter is stored by the video game and changes an attribute of the video game. Thus, for example, the (56) References Cited new performance characteristics of the rising star may be U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS recorded on the server as improved performance parameters. When these parameters are downloaded by the video game 3.65 A 38. EA St. al player, the video game incorporates the star-like qualities of 5,694,546 A 12/1997 Reisman the rising star. 5,810,680 A 9, 1998 Lobb et al. 5,860,862 A 1/1999 Junkin 23 Claims, 14 Drawing Sheets RAM Riles 138 Rule 1 Rule 2 Rule 3 Eic Stadium 35 Stadiura Parameter 1 Sladinarameter 2 Stadium Patativetcr3 Etc. Referees Referee Parameter l Referee Parameter2 Team i City Owners Trainers Coaches Players Etc Team 2 City Owners Trainers Coaches Players Etc. Other Parameters Needed for Current Game Play Etc. - - - US 8,529,350 B2 Page 2 (56) References Cited Todd, Brett, The History of Football Games, available at http://www. gamespot.com, (C) 2009 CBS Interactive, Inc., last accessed Oct. 7, OTHER PUBLICATIONS 2009. 4' & Inches Manual, (C) 1988 Accolade, available at www. NFL 2K1 GameFAQs—Dreamcast http://www.gamefaqs.com/ lemonamiga.com, last accessed Oct. 7, 2009. console? dreamcast/file/914206/10283 Feb. 8, 2001. Madden NFL 2003–PlayStatin2 Manual http://www. TSR Manuals, Tecmo Bowl(R), (C) 1998, tSirken(avoicenet.com, avail replacementdocs.com release date: Aug. 12, 2002. able at http://www.atarihg.com/tSr/manuals/tecmobwl.txt, last NBA 2K1 Manual, Sega Dreamcast video game system, Nov. 1, accessed Oct. 7, 2009. 2000. Smith, James dated Aug. 30, 2000, NFL Gameday 2001 (PSX) NFL 2K1 Review. http://www.gamespot.com/dreamcast/sports/ Review, Sports Gaming Network, available at http://www.sports infl2k1/review.html, Sep. 8, 2000. gaming.com/football/nfl gameday 2001/review pSX.shtml, last http://www.answers.com/topic/microsoft-baseball-2001. accessed Oct. 7, 2009. Newton's Telecom Dictionary by Harry Newton. Printed Mar. 1998 Riot, Sydney, GameVortex Communications, NFL GameDay 2002. by Flatiron Publishing. ISBN 1-57820-023-7. p. 460. Madden 2002 Manual, EA Sports, 209 Redwood Shores Parkway, video game release date: Aug. 7, 2001, available at http://www. Redwood City, CA 94065, available at http://www.replacementdocs. psillustrated.com/psillustrated/soft rev.php/17/nfl-gameday-2002 com, (C) 2001 Electronic Arts, Inc., last accessed Oct. 7, 2009. ps2.html, last accessed Oct. 7, 2009. NBA Showtime, NBA on NBC, Operation Manual for 4-Player, 25 Legends Football '98 Review, available at http://www.uk. Dedicated Video Game, Gold Edition, Mar. 2000, (C) 2000 Midway videogames. games.yahoo.com/pc/reviews/legends-football--98 Amusement Games, LLC, 3401 North California Avenue, Chicago, be22be.html, (C) 2009 Yahoo!, last accessed Oct. 7, 2009. Illinois 60618-5899, available at http://www.midway.com, last Catch The Fever, Your Football Gaming Complex, C2000 Catch The accessed Oct. 7, 2009. NFL Fever, available at http://www.sportplanet.com/catchthefever? NFL 9953, Fever 2002 Manual, Xbox, Microsoft Corporation, One dhfever.shtml, last accessed available at Sep. 29, 2009. Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98.052-9953, available at http://www. RIP2001 Rosters, Apr. 14, 2001, available at http://www.sportplanet. Xbox.com, (C) 1997-2001 by RAD Game Tools, Inc., last accessed com/catchthefever/index.shtml, last accessed Oct. 9, 2009. Oct. 7, 2009. RIP2002 Rosters, Sep. 6, 2001, available at http://www.sportplanet. NFL Fever 2003 Manual, Xbox. One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA com/catchthefever/index.shtml, last accessed Oct. 9, 2009. 98.052-9953, available at http://www.xbox.com, (C) 1997-2002 by Welcome to the VPNFL. The Vaguely Plausible National Football RAD Game Tools, Inc., last accessed Oct. 7, 2009. League,available by early Dec. 1998 on the FBPro Dark Side at NHL 97 Instruction Booklet, Black Pearl Software, c/o T-HQ, Inc. http://www.geocities.com/colosseum? stadium/8273, last accessed 5016 No. Parkway, Calabasas, CA 91302, available at http://www. Oct. 9, 2009. replacementdocs.com, (C) 1996 Electronic Arts, last accessed Oct. 7, 2009. * cited by examiner U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 1 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 GUR U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 2 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 2 Game Machine 56 70a 73 Disc controller Drive 7Ob Controller 3 Controller Bus Control Circuit Controller 21 52 HT ControlE Controller 62 70d X H. 65 t CPU 72 U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 3 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 3 Data 82 Server 107 Modem 103 90 Game Medium (e.g., CD, User Interface DVD, Cartridge) 99 95 Local memory U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 4 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 4 Stadiums 109 Referees Referee 3 Other Game Parameter Other Game Parameter tC. U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 5 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 5 Players Statistic l Statistic 3 Etc Other Paver Other Player Other Player Other Player tC. U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 6 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 6 Stadium 135 Stadium Parameter 1 Stadium Parameter 2 Stadium Parameter 3 EtC. Referees Referee Parameter Referee Parameter 2 Referee Parameter 3 tC. Players Other Parameters Needed for Current Game Pla U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 7 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 7 ls Auto Update Enabled Displays Main Menu 232 User StartS game Or requests update 236 238 Did user Go to request Go to update? Fig. 8 Fig.9 U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 8 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 8 241 initializes 243 establishes network connection 245 CPU sends request for data to the data server Data Server Requested receives Data requested Data data and stores it in 249 local memory Local memory 251 disconnects 254 modem from network 253 prompted that data transfer is complete Main menu is displayed U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 9 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 9 265 User selects to start game CPU loads gaming 270 engine from 285 game Game medium to Engine | CPU loads data from Requested local Data memory to RAM, if requested or all t0 Local updating memory 305 300 Game is played with requested U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 10 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig. 10 CPU initializes -33 modem to network GM displays log- u-340 in/sign-up Screen User makes (Fig 2) selection 342 351 344 348 Does !" " Is AC CPU User enters required? auto-send A.C AC) (D CPU compares user input with GMAC CPU sends login data to SCIWe CD N error msg. 366 U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 11 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig 11 369 Server attempts to authenticate login data Server sends Server Sends menu of available 372 failure message data to GM to GM 380 Cl 388 message CPU displays CPU displays C failure message 384 U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2013 Sheet 12 of 14 US 8,529,350 B2 Fig 12 CPU displays 390 Uscr enters sign-up screen necessary info 440 393 Does CPU User enters auto-Send AC A.C. CPU compares user input with GMAC CPU sends sign-up data tO Sever 448 displays Data 408 46 error msg.

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