AU774435B2 - Gaming machine - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

o Name of Applicant/s: Actual Inventor/s: Address for Service:

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Invention Title: Ainsworth Game Technology Limited Leonard Hastings Ainsworth BALDWIN SHELSTON WATERS MARGARET STREET SYDNEY NSW 2000 3710000352 'GAMING MACHINE' Details of Associated Provisional Applications No's. PR0319 dated 21 August 2000 and PR4118 dated 30 March 2001 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- File: 28311AUP03 -2- GAMING MACHINE Field of the Invention The present invention relates to gaming machines. The invention has been developed primarily for computerised gaming machines and will be described herein with reference to that application. However it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to that particular field of use and may be suitable for many other applications.

Background of the Invention Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.

•Gaming machines have long been known and are now one of the most common forms of gambling. Usually, gaming machines will simulate a well known game of chance. One of the oldest and best known forms of gaming machine is the rotating reel type "poker machine". In light of its popularity, the present invention will be described with specific reference to this type of gaming machine. However, it is equally applicable •to many other types of gaming machine.

Poker machines use a series of five reels, each reel having symbols on its *peripheral edge. The reels are rotated upon the placement of wager and then stopped to produce a random arrangement of symbols. Winnings are paid if the random arrangement of symbols matches one of the predetermined winning combinations.

Gaming machines can "pay winnings" in a variety of ways. These include dispensing money, dispensing tokens that can be redeemed for money or simply adding credits to a credit meter that can be used for placing future bets or redeemed as money.

Given the predominance of computerised gaming machines, winnings are most -3commonly awarded in the form of credits tallied on a credit meter. In light of this the present invention will be described with specific reference to the payment of winnings in this manner however ordinary workers in this field will readily understand that the term encompasses other award payment mechanisms.

More recently, these gaming machines have been computerised with a video display replacing the physically rotating reels. The display screen presents an array of symbols in five columns and three rows equating to the symbols that would normally be seen on the five physically rotating reels of the old style mechanical machines. The computer is programmed so that the frequency of winning combinations will, over time, return a set level of winnings to the player. For example, a gaming machine configured •.to return 90% of bets back to the player in winnings, will set the amount won for each winning combination taking into account the probability of each combination so that eventually the total winnings paid will be 90% of the total bets placed.

The amount paid for each winning combination and the level of return to the player determines the "volatility" of the gaming machine. The "volatility" ofa gaming machine is a reference to the expected frequency of winning game events occurring and the corresponding amount paid for each winning game event in order to maintain the required payout level set for the machine. A gaming machine with low volatility is S"configured to have a relatively high frequency of"wins", where each win has a relatively low value. Conversely, high volatility refers to a lower frequency of "wins" of correspondingly higher value. Throughout the specification, "volatility" is a reference to this characteristic of a gaming machine.

To maintain the players' interest, many gaming machines provide a subsidiary game as well as the primary game. The subsidiary game may be initiated in response to -4a predetermined trigger such as a particular outcome in the primary game. The subsidiary game may be completely different to the primary game and therefore have an inherently different volatility. For example if the primary game is poker, the subsidiary game may be black jack wherein the volatility changes by the very nature of the game.

However the subsidiary game may not particularly appeal to the player as much as the primary game and therefore any enhancements gained by varying volatility may be negated by the change of the game itself.

In an attempt to address this, some machines have a feature for awarding double triple or some other multiple of the regular value of the wins in the primary game. The feature is initiated by a trigger event and the player is informed that all values on the "score card" (a printed table on the facade of the machine showing the winning combinations and their respective values) are to be multiplied by a certain integer for the duration of the feature. This necessarily causes a large increase in the volatility of the primary game.

Summary of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

Accordingly the present invention provides a gaming machine adapted to accept oooo bets on game events having random outcomes and paying winnings on the occurrence of predetermined winning game events; wherein, the winnings for each winning game event are determined in accordance with individual parameters associated with respective individual winning game events; the gaming machine being further adapted to adjust the individual parameters associated with the individual winning game events upon the occurrence of a trigger event, to provide any predetermined level of volatility in the operation of the gaming machine.

It has been found by individually adjusting the values in the score card rather than universally doubling or tripling them, provides complete control of the volatility. This allows the game design to incorporate features that gradually raise or lower the volatility as opposed to quantum changes that necessarily follow from simply using a multiple of the score card values. Therefore the present invention has the ability to vary the volatility of the primary game while avoiding any large changes that detract from the gaming experience for many players.

S 10 Preferably the individual parameters respectively associated with the winning •game events are shown on a display means capable of changing in accordance with any adjustments to the parameters made by the gaming machine. In one particular preferred form the display means is a video screen.

It would be possible to display a printed table of the score card as well as one or *15 more "adjusted values" for each winning combination. However this would quickly become too complex and inconvenient for most players. A score card on a video screen can be immediately updated to clearly show any changes to the value of each winning combination. This is particularly advantageous for scorecards relating to typical 'poker' machines that display an array of symbols and pay winnings on the occurrence of any of the many different winning combinations.

In a further preferred form, the video screen is dimensioned to include a display of the game events as well as the individual parameters respectively associated with the winning game events. One particularly convenient embodiment uses a 29 inch (74 cm) video screen. A sufficiently large video screen allows the graphics used for the game to be incorporated and merged into the score card graphics for greater asthetic appeal.

While positioning the score card and game display on a single large video screen allows sophisticated graphics, it necessarily makes the gaming machine itself relatively large. Some situations require a smaller, more compact machine for installation on bench tops and the like. Accordingly, some preferred embodiments provide a first video screen for displaying the game events and a second video screen for displaying the score card.

It has been found that by careful design of the electronic components of each screen, it is possible to provide a compact bench top style gaming machine that can conveniently adjust and display the score card values.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows the initial score card display on a gaming machine according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows the feature score card display on the gaming machine of Fig. 1; and Figure 3 shows a front elevation of another embodiment of a gaming machine according to the present invention.

Detail Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to Figure 1 the score card 10 shown is typical of one used for 'poker' machines. The player is presented with an array of symbols (not shown) usually in five -"columns and three rows and allowed to bet on the occurrence of particular combinations .i of symbols in various "paylines" through the array. The paylines are typically the symbols appearing across each individual row of the array as well as symbols along several zig zag paths through the array.

The score card shows the prize awarded when certain combinations of symbols appear in any of the lines carrying a bet. The current status of the player's game is displayed in the line of windows 20 at the bottom of the scorecardlO0. The score card also informs the player of the game event required to trigger the feature 11-19. In this case, the occurrence of three or more anchor symbols 16 in any line carrying a bet will trigger the game feature.

During the game feature, the values shown on the score card 10 are varied as shown in Figure 2. However, the revised score card values are not varied uniformly, but rather by individual amounts designed to achieve the exact adjustment in volatility desired by the game designer. This provides a significant advantage over known gaming machines which simply double or triple the score card values during the feature.

As.the score card values can be individually adjusted, the score card is shown on a video screen so that the revised values are easily displayed. Furthermore, this allows the gaming machine programmer to employ many different sets of score card values to achieve the corresponding number of different volatility settings.

SIt has been found that a 29 inch screen is adequately dimensioned for sophisticated graphics of both the game and the score card. While a large screen allows a game and •score card to be shown in a graphically integrated manner with good aesthetic appeal, its relatively large size means that the overall machine dimensions are correspondingly large. This can be inconvenient for venues that are configured for the installation of a traditional bench top style of machine.

Figure 3 shows a more compact dual screen version of the gaming machine This machine is small enough for convenient bench top installation similar to more traditional gaming machines. This has been accomplished by providing separate video screens 21 and 22 for displaying the game and score card respectively. The use of two S"separate video screens permits the more compact arrangement of the internal electronic components. The neck or tube length of a small screen is shorter than that of the large screen which allows the overall depth of the gaming machine to be significantly reduced.

Furthermore the weight of two smaller video screens compared to one large video screen is considerably less. A dual screen arrangement also allows the video displays to be driven with significantly less powerful electronic controllers than those needed for a large single screen. The use of less powerful and therefore less expensive controllers translates to lower manufacturing costs.

It will be appreciated that the present invention allows the gaming machine volatility to be varied and set at any point along a continuum. Configuring the machine such that it can arbitrarily increase or decrease each individual score card value gives the game designer complete control of the volatility setting. By using subtle volatility variations rather than the quantum changes caused by doubling or tripling the score card, the gaming experience can be enhanced. Furthermore, allowing the player to monitor the score card changes gives a fresh dimension to the traditional gaming machines to maintain player interest.

The present invention has been described herein by way of example only. Skilled workers in this field will readily recognise many variations and modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the broad inventive concept.

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Claims (7)

1. A gaming machine adapted to accept bets on game events having a random outcome and paying winnings on the occurrence of predetermined winning game events; wherein; the winnings for each winning game event are determined in accordance with individual parameters associated with respective individual winning game events; the gaming machine being further adapted to adjust the individual parameters associated with the individual winning game events upon the occurrence of a trigger event initiated by a game event, to provide a variable level of volatility in the operation of the gaming machine, while maintaining a set level of average winnings.

2. A gaming machine according to Claim 1, wherein some of the individual parameters respectively associated with the winning game events are increased upon the occurrence of the trigger event and some of the parameters are decreased.

3. A gaming machine according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the individual 15 parameters respectively associated with the winning game events are shown on a display °.means capable of changing in accordance with any adjustment to the parameters.

4. A gaming machine according to Claim 3, wherein the game events display an array of randomly selected symbols and the winning game events are predetermined combinations of the symbols appearing in the array wherein the parameters associated 20 with the predetermined winning combinations are displayed in a table indicating the winnings for each predetermined winning combinations.

5. A gaming machine according to Claim 4, wherein the display means is a video 555 So.o screen dimensioned to include a display of the array of symbols as well as the table of winnings.

6. A gaming machine according to Claim 4, wherein the display means is a first video screen and the array of symbols is shown on a second video screen.

7. A gaming machine substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanied figures. DATED this 20th Day of August, 2001 AINSWORTH GAME TECHNOLOGY LIMITED Attorney: KENNETH W. BOLTON Registered Patent and Trade Mark Attorney of Australia of BALDWIN SHELSTON WATERS *o