WO2004096396A1

WO2004096396A1 - Spott-the-ball game

Info

Publication number: WO2004096396A1
Application number: PCT/GB2004/001857
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Lapczynsky
Original assignee: First Global Gaming Ltd.,
Priority date: 2003-04-28
Filing date: 2004-04-27
Publication date: 2004-11-11

Abstract

An improved games of skill of the 'Spot the Ball' type comprises displaying a multiplicity of images A-F of a sporting activity, from each of which images A-F an object has been omitted and in each of which images A-F at least two pre-determined positions are indicated, and requiring the contestant to indicate which position he selects as the position of the omitted object. The game of skill may be implemented on printed material such as paper or card or may alternatively be implemented on any suitable electronic device having a visual display unit or screen.

Description

SPOTT-THE-BALL GAME

The present invention relates to games of skill of the "Spot the Ball" type, that is, of games in which the contestant is required to identify the position of an omitted object from a displayed game. Such games are most widely practised as applied to a football game but may be applied to other activities such as rugby, tennis, cricket or indeed a wide variety of activities from which an object has been omitted.

The improved game of skill according to the present invention comprises displaying an image from which an object has been omitted and on which image at least two predetermined positions are indicated, and requiring the contestant to indicate which position he selects as the position of the omitted object.

Now, in practice, it is desirable that several pre-determined positions be indicated in the image from which the object has been omitted, for example at least four such positions, or six or eight or even twelve positions, from one of which positions the object has been omitted. The contestant may be required to mark the indicated position itself but it is also possible for the pre-determined positions to be listed separately from the image itself and for the contestant to specify his choice from the separate list.

Preferably, each pre-determined position is provided with an identifying reference. The identifying reference may be a letter, number, symbol or any suitable combination thereof. Typically, the pre-determined positions are numbered consecutively from 1. In a preferred form of the present invention, a multiplicity of separate images of the same sporting activity, or even of different sporting activities, are displayed. For example, separate images of different events in the same game of football, or of different games of football, or even of different sporting activities, may be displayed. In general, it is preferred for different games of the same activity, preferably football, to be displayed. Preferably, if a multiplicity of images are displayed each image is provided with an identifying reference. The identifying reference may be a letter, number, symbol or any suitable combination thereof. Typically, the multiplicity of images is referenced by consecutive letters of the alphabet staring from A. Most preferably, each of the predetermined positions in each of the multiplicity of images is referenced by a number and each of the multiplicity of images is referenced by a letter thereby allowing a particular predetermined position within a particular image to be identified by an alpha-numeric code such as Al, B2 etc.

Thus a particularly preferred form of the present invention comprises displaying a multiplicity of images of a sporting activity, from each of which images an object has been omitted and in each of which images at least two pre-determined positions are indicated, and listing said pre-determined positions separately from said multiplicity of images.

In alternative preferred embodiments of the invention, the contestant may specify positions by making marks on a machine readable card. The machine readable card may or may not have said images printed thereon. A further possibility is that the contestant may specify his choice by means of a text format message such as an SMS message or an email.

In the above embodiments, the game is adapted to be implemented on printed material such as paper, card or similar however, in a further preferred embodiment, the game may be implemented on an electronic device having a display screen or visual display unit. The electronic device may display a single image or may display a multiplicity of images either simultaneously or in turn. The image or images may be stored in the electronic device or may be downloaded from a remote storage location. In such embodiments, the electronic device is preferably operable to display an enlarged portion of the image, to the contestant, if desired. In some electronic embodiments of the invention, the electronic display device comprises a touch sensitive display screen and the contestant specifies his choice of positions by touching appropriate areas of the screen. In other embodiments, the contestant may enter by means of a text format message such as an SMS message or an email. In preferred embodiments of the invention, implemented on an electronic device the contestant may select positions within an image by moving a cursor displayed on screen. Alternatively, the contestant may enter a number corresponding to his choice of position in an answer space corresponding to a particular image, the answer space being selected by means of a cursor displayed on screen or any other suitable method. In such embodiments, suitable control apparatus, keypads or keyboards are provided to allow the contestant to select the positions by means of a cursor or answer space. The suitable control apparatus, keypads or keyboards may be incorporated into the electronic device or may be linked to the electronic device by a cable or a wireless link as appropriate.

Preferably, in each of the above embodiments, the image is a real image from which the ball has been removed. However, as an alternative the image and or winning position may be generated randomly by a computer.

The improved game according to the present invention may be put into practise in numerous ways. For example, it may be published in a newspaper, it may be distributed in cards through points of sale or inserted into newspapers or magazines, it may be accessed through lottery terminals or in gaming machines such as those found in public houses or in game arcades. It may further be distributed on the Internet via a computer, on a television screen, via an interactive digital signal, or a mobile telephone, a personal digital computer or a personal digital appliance. The contestant may enter the competition by communicating his choice of position for the or each image to the competition organisers by any suitable means.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 represents an improved game of skill according to the present invention wherein there are six images and wherein there are nine indicated positions within each image; Figure 2 shows an improved game of skill according to figure 1 implemented on a card; Figure 3 shows the improved game of skill according to figure 2 wherein the card is adapted to be machine readable; Figure 4 shows an improved game of skill according to figure 1 implemented on an electronic display unit; and Figure 5 shows the improved game of skill of figure 1 implemented on a mobile telephone handset.

Referring now to figure 1, in each of the six images, A, B, C, D, E and F, there is shown an incident from a football game but from which the ball has been deleted. In the images A-F of figure 1 , a single player is shown by way of example but in each of the images a whole view of the incident, including players and indeed the spectators where appropriate, is shown by way of a, photograph of specific incident.

A collection of numerals 1 to 12 is shown in each photograph and the numbered units are placed in the general area from which the ball has been deleted. Thus the numbered units are disposed in a usually different area in each image. At the right-hand edge of the collection of images is reproduced the numerals 1 to 12 and the letters of the images. As a matter of convenience only the numerals associated with image A is shown. Thus, if the contestant in the competition judges that the ball has been deleted from the unit 4 in photograph A, he marks off unit 4 of group A of the units at the edge of the collection.

In this specific example, the contestant indicates six numerical entrants in the six units labelled A to F at the right-hand side of the figure 1. His prize is related to how many correct indications of the ball positions he achieves. Alternatively, it is of course possible that the units A-F at the right-hand side of figure 1 may be omitted and the contestant makes his mark directly on the images A-F.

Referring now to figure 2, images A-F of the type shown in figure 1 are printed on a card 100. For convenience, only image A is shown in illustrated detail. As in figure 1 the contestant judges that the ball has been removed from a particular unit 1-12 in each image A- F. In this case having made his judgement, the contestant submits his entry by means of a suitable text format message to a central competition server identifying the particular units he has selected in each image A-F. The message may be formulated A2, B4, C7, D12, E3, F8, or similar indicating that the contestant considers the ball to have been deleted from unit 2 in image A, unit 4 in image B etc. The message may be submitted by any suitable means, for example, via an email to an advertised email address or as is shown in figure 2, by a text message (SMS or any other suitable format) sent from a mobile telephone.

Figure 3 shows an alternative implementation of the invention printed on a card 110 which is adapted so as to be machine readable. In this embodiment, the contestant judges the location from which the ball has been removed and makes a mark in the appropriate unit. The card 110 is then inserted into a suitable machine (not shown), which detects the presence and location of marks made by the contestant in particular units. The machine may then submit an entry indicating the unit chosen by the contestant for each image A-F. To achieve this the machine may be connected to a central competition server by a suitable dedicated or non-dedicated link. The machine may also print a receipt or ticket for the contestant to keep for his records or to present for the purpose of claiming a prize.

The card 110 may also have pre-printed markings 112 and 114 to assist the machine in reading the card 110, generating a receipt, record keeping or any other purpose.

Suitable cards of the type shown in figures 1-3 may be distributed to potential customers in newspapers, magazines or similar; in shops such as newsagents or supermarkets; via the postal service; or by any other suitable method.

Figure 4 shows an implementation of the invention for use with computers, digital television systems, mobile telephones, phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or any other electronic device having a visual display unit, screen or similar. In such embodiments, images can be stored in the electronic device or may be downloaded from a remote storage location. Alternatively, the images may be distributed to contestants via other portable storage media such as magnetic discs or tapes, CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs, memory cartridges or similar.

In this embodiment, images A-F of the type shown in figures 1-3 are displayed on the screen along with answer spaces 130. Each answer space corresponds to one of the images A-F. When a contestant has judged which unit in an image corresponds to the position of the deleted ball, he enters the number of unit in the answer space 130 corresponding to the particular image. When the contestant has entered a unit number in each answer space 130 he may then use the electronic device to submit his entry. This may be by means of a data message to a central competition server sent via the internet or a suitable dedicated or non- dedicated link.

The contestant enters numbers in the answer spaces 130 using any suitable control apparatus such as a computer mouse, trackball, touch sensitive pad, joystick or similar; keypads or keyboards incorporated into or linked to the electronic device. He may achieve this by moving a cursor displayed on the screen to highlight and select a desired unit and hence enter the number in the corresponding answer space 130. Alternatively or additionally, the contestant may select the appropriate answer space 130 by use of a displayed cursor or by cycling through the each answer space 130 in turn, the number being entered either by cycling through all the available choices of number or by use of a numeric keypad or keyboard.

In some embodiments, particularly gaming machine embodiments, the screen may be a touch sensitive screen and the contestant may select units by touching the appropriate area of the screen. Alternatively, of course, in any of the above embodiments it is possible that the contestant may enter by means of a text format message such as an SMS message or an email sent to a central competition server.

Figure 5 shows an alternative implementation of the invention particularly suited for mobile phones, PDAs or other electronic devices with relatively small display units. An image A is displayed on the screen 144 of a mobile telephone phone 140. The image A is one of a plurality of images A-F of the type shown in figures 1-4.

The images A-F are displayed to the contestant in sequence in order that the contestant may judge which unit corresponds to the position of the deleted ball in each image. The contestant may note down that number of the selected unit in each image and subsequently submit his entry in the form of a text message as described in relation to figure 2. In a preferred embodiment, however, the mobile telephone phone 140 is Java enabled, allowing the contestant to download a Java application to display the images A-F in sequence and to display a cursor on each image. The cursor may be moved using the telephone keypad 142 allowing the contestant to highlight and subsequently to select a unit in each image. The contestant's selections for each image may be displayed at one edge of the screen 144, typically the bottom edge as shown in figure 5. The application further enables an entry to be submitted using the mobile telephone 140 in the form of a data message to a central competition server either directly after the contestant has made his unit selection in the final image or after the contestant has been provided with an opportunity to confirm his selections. It is of course possible that the present invention may be adapted to work with mobile telephones, PDAs or similar which are equipped to run applications in alternative formats.

The images A-F in the embodiments of figures 4 and 5 are preferably provided on an internet site where they may be viewed or downloaded or distributed via a central server. In the case of play using a digital television system, the images may be provided as part of an interactive data service, units being selected by use of the digital television system remote control.

In each of the above embodiments for electronic devices, it may also be possible for a contestant to view an enlarged portion of each image surrounding the position of the units.

It is of course to be understood that the invention is not to be restricted to the details of the above embodiment which is described by way of example only

Claims

1. An improved game of skill comprising displaying an image from which an object has been omitted and on which image at least two pre-determined positions are indicated, and requiring the contestant to indicate which position he selects as the position of the omitted object.

2. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 1, wherein four, six, eight or twelve positions are indicated, from one of which positions the object has been omitted.

3. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each pre-determined position is provided with an identifying reference.

4. An improved game of skill as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a multiplicity of separate images are displayed.

5. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 4, wherein each image is provided with an identifying reference.

6. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of the predetermined positions in each of the multiplicity of images is referenced by a number and each of the multiplicity of images is referenced by a letter thereby allowing a particular pre-determined position within a particular image to be identified by an alpha-numeric code.

7. An improved game of skill as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the game is printed on a card.

8. An improved game of skill as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the contestant is required to mark the indicated position itself.

9. An improved game of skill as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the pre-determined positions are listed separately from the image itself and the contestant is required to specify his choice from the separate list

10. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 when dependent on claim 7, wherein the card is machine readable.

11. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the contestant is required to specify his choice by means of a text format message.

12. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the image is or the images are displayed on a display screen of an electronic device.

13. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 12, wherein a multiplicity of separate images are displayed at one time.

14. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 12, wherein each one of a multiplicity of separate images is displayed in turn.

15. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the images are downloaded from a remote storage location.

16. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the images are stored in the electronic device.

17. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein the electronic device is operable to display an enlarged portion of the image.

18. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein the contestant is required to specify his choice by means of a text format message.

19. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein the contestant specifies his choice by moving a cursor displayed on screen to highlight and select a position.

20. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein the images are displayed on the screen along with answer spaces, each answer space corresponding to one image and, wherein the contestant specifies his choice by entering a number in each answer space.

21. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 20, wherein the contestant enters numbers in the answer spaces using any suitable control apparatus, keypads or keyboards incorporated into or linked to the electronic device.

22. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 20 or claim 21, wherein the contestant selects an answer space by using a cursor displayed on screen.

23. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein the display screen is touch sensitive and the contestant may specify his choice by touching appropriate areas of the screen.

24. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 23, wherein the electronic device is a gaming machine.

25. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 23, wherein the electronic device is a digital television system.

26. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 23, wherein the electronic device is a computer.

27. An improved game of skill as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 23, wherein the electronic device is a mobile telephone.

28. An improved game of skill as claimed in claim 27, wherein the mobile telephone is Java enabled.

29. An improved game of skill as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the image and or the winning position are generated randomly by a computer.