JP6676011B2 - Third-party management system for game ball data, amusement arcade system, computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a third-party management system for managing ball storage data of a fan (a player playing a gaming machine) by a third party. Game media, such as physical game balls and game medals, acquired by a fan at a game arcade are “balls”, and data representing the number of balls is “balls data”.

  In a game arcade where a pachinko gaming machine or the like is installed, various services are provided for the purpose of turning fans into repeaters. One of the most typical services is to exchange a game medium acquired by a fan for a game with a prize. Recently, a ball storage / replay service that enables replays using ball storage has also been performed. With the ball saving and replay service, the fan can save the number of game media obtained and use it for the next game, or exchange it for a higher value prize. It is presumed that this has led to an increase in the motivation of the fans to play. Further, since the same fans come and play games many times in order to increase the number of balls to be stored, it is expected that the amusement arcade will lead to the use of repeat fans. The number of accumulated coins is accumulated as accumulated coin data and can be consumed at any time. Patent Literatures 1 and 2 disclose systems in which ball storage data is managed by a third party independent of a game arcade.

JP 2005-251490 A JP 2007-6209 A

According to the systems disclosed in Patent Literatures 1 and 2, even if a trouble occurs in the game arcade system, the ball storage data of the fan is guaranteed. For this reason, there is an advantage that the fans can play the ball with ease and play again. As a game arcade, there is an advantage that the repeat rate and the retention rate of the fans can be improved.
However, as the number of fans using the ball storage / replay service increases, the amount of data to be managed increases, and it is necessary to increase the processing capacity of the game arcade system. In addition, the commission burden when managing the ball storage data by a third party increases. For this reason, there is a problem that the introduction burden and the maintenance cost of the game arcade manager become large, and it is not possible to spread a system for realizing the ball saving / replay service and the ball saving backup.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for reducing the maintenance cost of a system that uses a ball storage or replay and a backup of a ball storage in a game arcade.

The present invention provides a third-party management system of game ball data and a game arcade system.
A third-party management system that embodies the present invention enables a physical game ball acquired by a gaming machine member with a gaming machine or a replay using the coin to enable replay using the gaming ball, and a gaming ball acquired by the gaming machine member. A third-party management system connected via a communication network to a game arcade system having a first coin-deposit account in which ball-deposit data representing a number is accumulated, wherein the third-party management system communicates with the game arcade system. means, registration means for registering the second貯玉account of the game hall members to be updated to correspond to the first貯玉account, and management means you accumulate before Symbol貯玉data to said second貯玉account, A second communication control means for permitting access to an information terminal operated by a game arcade member; and a control means for presenting the second ball account of the game arcade member to the information terminal . 2貯玉account Do not been updated for a period of time When subtracting the貯玉maintenance data value corresponding to a predetermined number of the game balls from said second貯玉account, the management unit, the gaming facility system, the game field members acquired during the game or consumption When a predetermined number of coins is charged from the first coin account at the start of replay with respect to the card storing the number of coins saved, if the coin saving maintenance data is subtracted from the first coin account, the coin saving is performed. The second savings account is updated based on the first savings account from which the cost data has been deducted, and the management means determines that the newly savings account is less than a predetermined number, or that the savings account is again changed before the date is changed. When the ball storage maintenance cost data is set to 0, and the second communication control unit receives the ball storage inquiry message from the information terminal, the control unit authenticates the gaming room member. By creating a coin account data message including guide information describing the coin maintenance data and the timing of the deduction of the coin account data of the gaming arcade member, and transmitting the coin account data message to the information terminal by the second communication control means. And displaying the guidance information on the information terminal .

Further, a game arcade system embodying the present invention is a game arcade system that allows a game arcade member to play a ball or replay using the ball in a gaming machine using a physical game ball. Registration means for registering a ball account of a field member; and ball storage data representing the number of game balls acquired by the game field member, stored in the ball account, and ball maintenance cost data having a value corresponding to a predetermined number of the game balls. Management means for subtracting the game account from the account, and communication means for transmitting the game account to an external third-party management system in association with the identification information of the game hall member, the management means, if not updated for a period of time, re to the貯玉subtracted maintenance data from said貯玉account card for storing貯玉number the game arcade member a acquired or consumed during the game After a predetermined number of coins is charged from the coin account at the start of the ray, the coin maintenance data is deducted from the coin account, and if the number of coins newly added is less than a predetermined number, or before the date is changed. It is characterized in that the ball storage maintenance cost data is set to 0 when the ball storage is performed again .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the maintenance cost of the system which uses the storage of a ball or replay and the backup of a ball storage in a game hall can be reduced.

The whole block diagram of a game management system. FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a game arcade system. FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of contents of a game hall member DB. The example figure of contents of a savings account DB. Functional block diagram of a third-party management system. FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of the contents of a savings member DB. The example figure of contents of a savings account DB. FIG. 3 is a configuration example diagram of a fan terminal. FIG. 9 is a processing procedure diagram of the savings and replay. The processing procedure figure after totaling a savings account. The figure of the procedure of the presenting process of a savings account. The processing procedure figure at the time of a savings account freezing.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Overall configuration>
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a game management system to which the present invention is applied. The game management system 1 includes a game arcade system 10, a third party management system 20, and a fan terminal 30. The game arcade system 10 is provided for each game arcade. The third-party management system 20 is installed in an external third-party organization that has no interest in the operator of each game arcade. The fan terminal 30 is an information terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer that can be operated by a fan, and has a display. The game arcade system 10 and the third party management system 20, and the third party management system 20 and the fan terminal 30 are connected via a communication network N, respectively.

  When using the coin saving / replay service, the fan uses the member card 40 or the general card 50 that stores the number of coins acquired or consumed during the game. Each of them is a combination of savings and prepaid, and before the game, the number of savings or cash corresponding to cash within a predetermined amount is charged. The member card 40 is a card in which a member ID or the like, which is identification information for identifying a member, is stored. The member card 40 can be used repeatedly even if the number of stored coins or the remaining charge becomes zero. The general card 50 is collected by the gaming machine when the number of balls to be stored or the remaining charge becomes zero.

  The member card 40 is issued when a fan registers a game space member in the game space system 10. A gaming account is also registered for a game account. The coin savings account is an account that is acquired by a fan through a game and stores the coin savings data stored in the membership card 40. The ball storage data is data representing the number of stored balls. This coin account is registered in the game arcade system 10 and backed up in the third party management system 20.

In the third-party management system 20, a game arcade member is registered as a ball savings member. The ID for identifying the savings member managed by the third-party management system 20 may be the same as the member ID, but a unique ID may be assigned instead of the member ID or together with the member ID. The third-party management system 20 permits access with authority information from the fan terminal 30 operated by the coin-saving member, and allows the latest contents of the coin-saving account to be browsed. Further, a two-dimensional image code representing the member ID and the amusement arcade ID of the savings member is created, and the two-dimensional image code can be displayed on the display of the fan terminal 30 in response to a request from the accessed fan terminal 30. When a ball-saving member visits a game arcade without holding the member card 40 and uses the fan terminal 30 to store and replay the ball, the gaming machine side recognizes a two-dimensional image code displayed on the fan terminal 30. In this case, the coins obtained by the fans are stored in the general card 50.
Hereinafter, each individual system in the game management system 1 will be described in detail.

<Playground system>
The game arcade system 10 includes a card management device 11, a member management device 12, a game management device 13, a communication management device 14, and a card R / W (reader / writer) 111. These are connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) laid in a game arcade.
The card management device 11 manages information stored in the member card 40 attached to the card R / W 111. That is, the card management device 11 stores the member ID of the game hall member and the game hall ID of the game hall in the member card 40 at the time of issuance. In addition, ball reading data and the like are read from the member card 40 through the card R / W 111. The card R / W 111 can also read a general card 50 possessed by a fan who is a member of the game arcade.

  The member management device 12 cooperates with the card management device 11 to provide personal information of a game hall member, authority information such as a password, a game history, contract information between the game hall as a ball-saving member and a third party, The information on the benefits as a venue member and other information about the fans are maintained in an updatable manner. The game management device 13 performs operation monitoring of each of the gaming machines 150 to which the inter-chamber processing machine is mounted, monitoring of the operation status of the inter-chamber processing machine, and other various controls related to the game. The communication management device 14 periodically performs communication with the third-party management system 20 in which the address of the communication is set. Encrypted communication with the third party management system 20 is performed using a virtual leased line (VPN). Regarding the technology for realizing the virtual leased line, for example, “Nikkei Open System” No. 46 (Jan. 1997), p. 234, etc. Since a communication control program for implementing VPN has already been commercialized, it can be used.

The game management device 13 of the game arcade system 10 is electrically connected to a plurality of gaming machines 150 via a plurality of repeaters 15 installed at predetermined portions of the game arcade. The gaming machine 150 is, for example, a pachinko gaming machine, and is provided with a stand-to-stand processing machine.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the inter-chamber processing machine. The stand-to-block processor 17 includes a state display unit 171, a bill insertion slot 172, a display operation unit 173, a card insertion slot 174a, and a terminal holding unit 174b. The table processing machine 17 further includes a nozzle unit 175 for supplying physical gaming balls to the gaming machine 150 and a counting unit 176 for counting the number of gaming balls discharged from the gaming machine 150 as the number of accumulated balls. The counting unit 176 records the counting result on the member card 40 or the general card 50 attached to the card insertion slot 174a. The game balls counted by the counting unit 176 are collected in the inter-chamber processor 17 like the collected balls collected on the board, and can be supplied again from the nozzle unit 175.

  The status display unit 171 displays the operating status of the gaming machine 150 and the between-wasting machine 17. If any trouble occurs, the display contents change from the time of normal operation. In the bill insertion slot 172, cash (bill) to be charged into the member card 40 or the general card 50 is inserted. The display operation unit 173 is a user interface with a fan, and includes a numeric keypad 173a and a display unit 173b. The ten keys 173a are used to select functions, use coins, input game start / end instructions, and other instructions. The display unit 173b displays the remaining amount of cash charge, the number of remaining coins, and guide information to fans. The member card 40 or a general card 50 issued from another inter-machine processing machine at the time of the game is inserted into the card insertion slot 174a.

  In addition, while the member card 40 is issued by the card R / W 111 as described above, the general card 50, when the fan stops the game with the gaming machine 150, the remaining coins remaining or the remaining charge is not zero. Sometimes, it is issued through the card insertion slot 174a. On the other hand, when both the number of remaining coins and the remaining amount of charge become 0, they are automatically collected and stored for the next fan. The terminal holding unit 174b reads the two-dimensional image code displayed on the fan terminal 30 when allowing the ball storage / replay using the fan terminal 30 instead of the member card 40.

Next, the game management device 13 will be described in detail. The game management device 13 is a computer to which peripheral devices such as a display, a printer, a keyboard, and a storage device are connected. The game management device 13 realizes the functions illustrated in FIG. 3 by executing a predetermined computer program.
That is, the game management device 13 includes a data input unit 101, an individual authentication unit 102, a game medium management unit 103, a game hall member database (hereinafter, the database is abbreviated as “DB”) 104, a ballpark account DB 105, and a game hall member management unit. 106, a data transmitting / receiving unit 107, a data output unit 108, and a control unit 109.

The data input unit 101 is connected to the game management device 13 via the repeater 15, data input from the numeric keypad 173 a, the card insertion slot 174 a, the terminal holding unit 174 b, etc. of the display operation unit 173 of the inter-standby processor 17. Data input from a keyboard or the like (not shown) is received. Also, the input data is transmitted to the control unit 109 and the like.
The personal authentication unit 102 performs personal authentication of a game hall member at the time of exchange of a prize, at the time of saving coins, at the time of replay, or the like. That is, the member ID and authority information input through the data input unit 101 are collated with information stored in the game hall member DB 104 at the time of registration, and personal authentication of the game hall member is performed.

  The game medium management unit 103 monitors the circulation state of the game balls used in each of the gaming machines 150 notified from the game management device 13 via the relay device 15 and the number of the game balls. In addition, processing such as adding the game balls counted by the counting unit 176 of the inter-chamber processing machine 17 to the number of stored balls and subtracting the game balls used during replay from the number of stored balls is performed. The game hall member DB 104 stores personal information of game hall members managed by the member management device 12 on a file basis. The ball account DB 105 stores a ball account for each game arcade member. The information stored in these DBs 104 and 105 will be described later in detail.

  The game arcade member management unit 106 manages information on game arcade members. That is, a member ID is assigned at the time of member registration of the fan, and a record area for each member ID is created in the game hall member DB 104. In addition, at the time of membership registration of the fan, a bill savings account is opened, and this is registered in the bill savings account DB 105 in association with the member ID. Further, information about the game hall members is exchanged between the member management device 12, the game hall member DB 104, and the ball account DB 105.

  The data transmission / reception unit 107 enables the above communication with the third party management system 20 via the communication management device 14 and the communication network N. The data output unit 108 displays various data, messages, and the like on the display unit 173b of each inter-processor 17 via the repeater 15. In addition, various data are printed by a printer (not shown) connected to the game management device 13. The control unit 109 controls the overall operation of the game arcade system 10. In addition, it creates various messages to be transmitted from the amusement arcade system 10 to the third-party management system 20, decodes the messages received from the third-party management system 20, and takes charge of processing corresponding to the decrypted messages. Have the function block execute it.

Next, the amusement arcade member DB 104 and the ball account DB 105 will be described in detail.
The amusement arcade member DB 104 holds records such as personal information of fans who have become amusement arcade members, authority information (such as passwords) used for personal authentication, and game history of the amusement arcade members (game date and time) in association with the member ID. Is done. The held content of the gaming hall member DB 104 is updated as appropriate. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of such a game hall member DB 104. As shown in FIG.

  In the ball account DB 105, the ball account of the game arcade member is registered in association with the member ID. The ball storage data indicates the number of increase or decrease (the number of increase or decrease) of the number of stored coins during a predetermined period (for example, one day). The contents of the savings account are updated in accordance with the offer of the accumulation and use of the savings by the gaming arcade member. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of such a bank account DB 105.

<Third party management system>
The third-party management system 20 manages the game account of a gaming arcade member of each gaming arcade received from the gaming arcade system 10 installed in each of the plurality of gaming arcades. In other words, the third-party management system 20 has a role as a backup system of the game hall member DB 104 and the coin account DB 105 in each game hall system 10, and further provides value-added services other than the game hall system 10. Normally, the third-party management system 20 receives and updates the information of the game hall member DB 104 and the coin account DB 105 once a day from each game hall system 10. The game arcade member is registered as a ball savings member in the third party management system 20.

  The third-party management system 20 is a computer having a large-capacity storage function and a communication function. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a third-party management system 20 formed by a computer executing a computer program. The third-party management system 20 uses a data transmitting / receiving unit 21, an individual authentication unit 22, a ball savings member management unit 25 that manages information on a ball savings member using a ball savings member DB 23, and a ball savings account using a ball savings account DB 24 for each amusement arcade. The system is provided with a savings account management unit 26 that maintains and manages, and a control unit 27 that comprehensively controls the operation of the third-party management system 20.

  The data transmitting / receiving unit 21 performs two-way communication, preferably encrypted communication, with the game arcade system 10 and the fan terminal 30. The function of the data transmitting / receiving unit 21 can be easily realized by using, for example, a network product and a communication control program for constructing a VPN as described above, or equivalents thereof.

  The savings member DB 23 uses the personal information of the fan who has become the savings member, the password used for personal authentication, the playground ID of the amusement arcade in which the savings member is a playingground member, and the member ID as attribute information of the savings member. Remember. If the ball member is a game member at a plurality of game halls, the ball storage member DB 23 holds the game hall IDs and member IDs of all the game halls. The contents of the savings member DB 23 are updated in accordance with new registration, deletion, change of personal information, and the like of the savings member in the game hall system 10. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of such a coin savings member DB 23. In the example of FIG. 7, the ball savings member is a game arcade member of two game arcades, and there are two game arcade IDs and two member IDs.

The ball account DB 24 holds (registers) the content of the ball account sent from the gaming system 10 for each gaming arcade. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the bank account DB 24. In the example of FIG. 8, the game arcade ID is held in association with the ballparking account, ballparking data, ballparking maintenance cost data, and the ballparking data update date to be described later, which are sent from the gaming hall. The contents of the bank account DB 24 are updated as needed, and the update date is rewritten. The update is performed about once a day in order to emphasize the reduction of the communication load. However, when the communication load does not matter, the update may be performed several times a day or in real time.
The contents of the bank account are the same as those of the bank account DB 105 of the gaming system 10. For example, by copying the content of the ballpark account DB 105 and assigning and managing the gaming field ID of the game hall from which the ballpark account DB 105 has been acquired, the bankball account DB24 can be easily constructed.

  A game arcade, a game arcade member, and a ballpark account in which the ballpark member is a game arcade member are specified by the member ID of the ballparking member. In other words, it is possible to search for the savings account of the savings member by the member ID of the savings member. Even if the ball savings member is a game hall member of a plurality of game halls, it is possible to search the ball savings accounts of all the game halls. The savings member DB 23 and the savings account DB 24 are formed, for example, in a mass storage device of the computer.

  The personal authentication unit 22 performs personal authentication for permitting the fan terminal 30 to access the third party management system 20. The personal authentication unit 22 performs personal authentication of the ball savings member with reference to the message including the system ID and authority information of the ball savings member input from the fan terminal 30 via the data transmitting / receiving unit 21 and the information of the ball savings member DB 23. . If the personal authentication succeeds, the coin savings member can browse the contents of his coin savings account through the fan terminal 30, for example.

  At the time of member registration, the ball-saving member management unit 25 prompts the fan terminal 30 to input a game arcade ID, a member ID, and authority information (such as a password). These pieces of information are stored in the file member DB 23 in a file format for each member. In addition, when there is a browsing request for a ball account from the fan terminal 30, the ball member management unit 25 reads out the game hall ID and the member ID related to the ball member from the ball member DB 23 based on the member ID.

  The savings account management unit 26 registers a savings account for each savings member. Each savings account is created based on the savings account received from the gaming system 10. The savings account management unit 26 also monitors the accumulation status of the savings data or the consumption status of the savings data in the savings account. Then, it is determined whether or not the monitoring result satisfies a predetermined condition. If the result is satisfied, the ball keeping maintenance cost data is subtracted from the ball savings account. The ball storage cost data is data of a value corresponding to a predetermined number of game balls. This will be described in detail later.

  When receiving an inquiry request from the fan terminal 30 operated by the ball member, the ball account managing unit 26 extracts the ball account of the ball member from the ball account DB 24 so that the fan terminal 30 can browse the ball account. Thereby, the savings member can check the savings account managed by the third party management system 20 at any time. In addition, when the savings account requesting unit freezes the savings account, the savings account management unit 26 restricts the use of the savings account of the savings member. Thereby, unauthorized use by a third party can be suppressed.

  The control unit 27 controls the operation of each functional block of the third-party management system 20. The control unit 27 also creates various messages transmitted from the third-party management system 20 to each of the gaming system 10 and the fan terminal 30, and decodes the messages received from each of the gaming system 10 and the fan terminal 30. Then, it causes each component or the accessing fan terminal 30 to execute a process corresponding to the decrypted message.

<Fan terminal>
The fan terminal 30 provides various services provided by the third-party management system 20 to the savings member by executing the application program. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the fan terminal 30 is operated as a data transmitting / receiving unit 31, a data input unit 32, a data output unit 33, and a control unit 34.

  The data transmission / reception unit 31 is for accessing the third-party management system 20 to perform two-way cryptographic communication, and includes a network article and a communication control program for constructing a VPN as described above, or equivalents thereof. It is.

  The data input unit 32 is an input interface such as a key button and a touch panel. The data output unit 33 is an output interface such as a small liquid crystal display and a sound output device. The small liquid crystal display presents various data, messages, and the like in a form that can be visually recognized by the ball saving member, and the voice output device presents the messages and the like to the ball saving member by synthetic voice.

The control unit 34 controls the operation of each functional block of the fan terminal 30 as a whole. The control unit 34 also creates various messages to be transmitted to the third-party management system 20, decodes the messages received from the third-party management system 20, and performs processing corresponding to the decoded messages in the corresponding functional blocks. Let it run.
The above-mentioned access includes, for example, inquiry of a savings account, acquisition of a two-dimensional image code representing a savings member or a member ID, transmission of a request to freeze a savings account, and the like. In other words, by operating the fan terminal 30, the ball savings member can check his / her ball savings account at any time from outside the game hall.

[Operation example]
Next, an operation example of the game management system 1 will be described. Here, the operation when the fan who is a game arcade member replays the gaming machine 150 using the ball saving data accumulated in the ball account, and when the game is over, accumulates the acquired game balls in the ball account. An example will be described.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a procedure in the case where the fan plays a ball and plays again. Fans who have come to the amusement arcade can select whether to play the ball and replay or play the game with cash. When playing a game using only cash (S10: N), the member card 40 is inserted into the inter-chamber processing machine 17 arranged next to the target gaming machine 150, and the cash is charged.
When saving and replaying (S10: Y), the fan attaches the membership card 40 to the card R / W 111 of the game arcade system 10, and charges (stores) a predetermined number of game ball data from the ball account. ), And a game (replay) can be performed using the accumulated ball data (S11). After that, the member card 40 is inserted into the card insertion slot 174a of the inter-stand processing machine 17 adjacent to the gaming machine 150. The between-chassis processor 17 presents the current bill storage data stored in the membership card 40 to the display unit 173b. The fan inputs the specified number of balls to be stored from the presented ball storage data (S12). The number of coins that can be input by one operation is determined. The table processing machine 17 supplies a specified number of game balls from the nozzle unit 175. This allows the fan to play a game on the gaming machine 150 using the gaming ball (S13). During the game, the number of accumulated balls increases or decreases. That is, when a game ball cannot be obtained by a game, the number of balls stored decreases, while when a game ball is obtained, the counting unit of the inter-chamber processor 17 adds the counted value to the number of balls stored. The member card 40 also stores the number of increase and decrease in the number of saved coins, the number of replays using the accumulated coins, and the like. Unless the fan operates the operation panel 173 to end the game, the procedures of S12 and S13 are repeated (S14: N).

  When the fan inputs the end of the game in the gaming machine by operating the operation panel 173, the membership card 40 is ejected from the card insertion slot 174a. The fan who has finished the game inserts the membership card 40 into the card R / W 111 of the game arcade system 10 and inputs an intention to save coins using the input device of the card management device 11. The card management device 11 transmits the member ID and the ball storage data read by the card R / W 111 to the game management device 13 (S15). The game management device 13 specifies and updates the bank account of the fan (amusement arcade member) from the bank account DB 105 (S16).

  Next, a process of backing up a savings account in the third-party management system 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The amusement arcade (game management device 13) performs a process of backing up a bank account to the third party management system 20. The backup process may be performed at a predetermined cycle, for example, at the end of one day of business, or as described above, may be performed each time the updating of the fan account is completed. FIG. 11 shows a procedure of processing in the former case.

  The amusement arcade system 10 (the control unit 109 of the game management device 13) uses the amusement arcade member management unit 106 to perform a tallying process of the savings account for each of the amusement arcade members (fans who are also ball saving members) (S30). In the present embodiment, a gaming arcade member whose balance in the ballpark account has changed since the previous backup is extracted, and the processing of counting the number of ballparking accounts, the number of increase / decreased ballparking, and the number of ballparking / replays of the gaming hall member is performed. After that, a summary message is created. The tally message is created by adding a ballpark account, a ballparking increase / decrease number, a ballparking / replaying number, etc. for each gaming hall member to the gaming hall ID of the gaming hall. The amusement arcade system 10 (the control unit 109) transmits the created summary message to the third party management system 20 via the data transmission / reception unit 107 (S31).

  The third-party management system 20 (the control unit 27) receives the tally message transmitted from the game arcade system 10, and updates the data of the ball account of each ball member based on the tally message (S40). Specifically, the ball account management unit 26 identifies and updates the ball account for the member ID in the ball account DB 24 based on the game arcade ID, the member ID, and the ball account included in the tally message. After that, the third-party management system 20 determines the savings maintenance cost data for each savings member identified by the member ID (S41). Then, the savings account management unit 26 subtracts the savings cost data from the savings account of each savings member (renews the savings account). In addition, the third party management system 20 creates a stored ball re-update message, and transmits the message to each gaming system 10 via the data transmission / reception unit 21 (S42).

The game hall system 10 that has received the ball update renewal message updates the data of the ball account for each game hall member in the corresponding ball account DB 105 based on the ball update renewal message received from the third-party management system 20 (S32). . When the ball account DB 105 is updated, the game arcade system 10 (game hall member management unit 106) clears, stores, or compresses the stored ball increase / decrease number and the number of balls / replays stored in the ball account DB 105 until then. I do.
By the above-described backup processing, the contents of the stored coin account are the same in the game arcade system 10 and the third party management system 20.

  In the above, an example has been described in which the third-party management system 20 determines the ball maintenance cost data and deducts the same from the ball account. However, the game arcade system 10 subtracts the ball maintenance cost data from the ball account of each game hall member. There may be. In this case, the amusement arcade system 10 obtains the ball storage cost data from the third party management system 20 in advance. Then, after updating the contents of the ball account, the gaming system 10 determines the ball storage cost data based on a predetermined criterion, and subtracts the ball storage cost data from the updated ball account. In the ball update message transmitted from the game arcade system 10 to the third party management system 20 at the time of the backup processing, the ball holding maintenance cost data and the contents of the ball savings account after deducting the ball holding maintenance cost data are described. In such a configuration, the third-party management system 20 only updates the coin-saving account DB 24 according to the coin-saving update message, and the processing is simplified. The amusement arcade system 10 also simplifies the processing because it does not need to acquire the ballpark renewal message from the third-party management system 20.

[Bill savings maintenance data]
Here, the ball maintenance cost data will be described in detail. As described above, when the monitoring result of the accumulation status of the ball savings data or the consumption status of the ball savings data in the ball saving account satisfies a predetermined condition, the ball savings maintenance cost data is subtracted from the ball savings account. When the predetermined condition is satisfied, in the present embodiment, for example, one of the following cases is performed.
<When a part of the number of accumulated coins is charged to the member card 40 at the start of the replay, it is generally assumed that the operation is performed once a day. Therefore, the ball storage maintenance data is determined to be 10 game balls, and the number of the stored balls is deducted from the stored ball account. For example, if the number of balls to be stored in the bank account is 5,000 and the number of balls to be used for replay is 1,000, the number of balls to be stored at this point is 4,000. By subtracting 10 pieces from this as the savings cost data, the balance of the savings account becomes 3990 pieces.

<After the game is over, if you want to save some or all of the accumulated ball data>
It is also assumed that this is usually once a day, but in the case of two or more times, it is necessary to set the savings maintenance cost data for only the first savings to 10 game balls and add it to the savings account. Subtract 10 pieces. For example, if the current number of balls stored in the bank account is 5,000, and 1,000 new coins are to be stored, the number of stored balls becomes 6000 at this point. From this, 10 pieces are subtracted as the bill saving maintenance data, so that the number of bills stored in the bill account becomes 5990 pieces. If the ball is to be stored again before the date is changed, the ball storage time data is set to 0 game balls.

  In addition, when the number to be newly accumulated is less than a predetermined number (for example, less than 25), the accumulated ball maintenance cost data may be set to 0. For example, if the current number of stored balls is 5000 and 20 new balls are to be stored, the number of stored balls becomes 5020 at this point. Since the new number of stored coins is less than the predetermined number, the stored ball maintenance cost data is 0, and the number of stored coins remains at 5020.

<When savings are not used for a certain period>
If the current number of stored balls is 5,000 and is not updated for a certain period (for example, one year), the stored ball maintenance cost data is set to 100 gaming balls. As a result, the number of remaining bank accounts becomes 4,900. In addition, when the number of accumulated coins is less than the accumulated coin data (100 coins), for example, when the number of remaining coins in the current coin account is 90 and is not updated for a certain period of time, the accumulated coin data is equal to the number of coins (90 coins). I do. As a result, the number of remaining coins becomes zero. That is, there is no case where the savings maintenance data for the remaining amount of the savings account or more is determined.

  In addition to the ball storage maintenance cost data being determined as a fixed value as described above, the ball storage maintenance cost data may be determined to have a progressively different value depending on the increase or decrease before and after the storage of the number of stored balls by the ball storage / replay or the number of stored balls. Good. For example, when the increase / decrease number of the ball included in the ball update message is negative, the ball maintenance cost data may be set to 0, and the ball maintenance cost data may be gradually increased as the ball increase / decrease number increases. . Further, as the number of accumulated coins stored in the accumulated coin account increases, the accumulated coin storage cost data may be gradually increased. The thus-established coin savings maintenance data deducts the coin savings from the coin savings members holding more coins, and can give the coin savings members a sense of fairness.

<Fee terminal account confirmation service>
In the third-party management system 20, as one of the value-added services, the processing of the coin saving confirmation service by the fan terminal 30 operated by the coin saving member is performed. FIG. 12 shows the procedure of this processing. Referring to FIG. 12, the coin savings member accesses the coin savings member service area on the homepage of the third-party management system 20, and starts a request for coins presenting (S50). In other words, the user operates the fan terminal 30 to acquire a fixed form of the coin storage presentation request, and inputs his / her own member ID and authority information from the fan terminal 30 (data input unit 32). Thereby, the inquiry message is transmitted from the fan terminal 30 to the third party management system 20 (S51).

  When the third party management system 20 receives the inquiry message from the fan terminal 30 (S60), the personal authentication unit 22 and the ball storage member management unit 25 authenticate and specify the ball storage member (S61). The individual authentication unit 22 authenticates the coin saving member corresponding to the member ID by referring to the coin saving member DB 23 based on the member ID. If the authentication is successful, the ball account member management unit 25 refers to the ball account member DB 23 to specify the game hall ID of the game hall in which the ball member is registered as a game hall member, and the ball account management unit 26 In the ball account DB 24, a ball account associated with the game arcade ID and the member ID is extracted. If the ball storage cost data is stored, guidance information describing the data and the deduction timing is read out (S62). Then, a bill storage account data message including the extracted bill storage account data, the bill storage maintenance cost data, and the guidance information is created, and posted in the bill storage member service area accessed by the fan terminal 30 (S63). That is, the bill storage account data message is transmitted to the fan terminal 30.

  The fan terminal 30 that has received the stored ball data message displays the stored bank account data (guide information of the stored ball maintenance cost data) through the data output unit 33 (S52, S53). Upon completion of the display, the coin-storage presentation processing ends. Through the above-described processing, the coin savings member can check the coin savings account data and the coin savings maintenance cost data to be deducted from the fan terminal 30 for all the gaming arcades in which the member is a gaming arcade member.

  In addition, the coin-saving member waits until the coin-suggestion presentation process starts and the display is completed (S50 to S53). Therefore, by utilizing the time, the data output unit 33 of the fan terminal 30 provides the advertisement / promotion information (various information such as commercial messages) in accordance with the instruction of the system operator or the request of another company. May be. The advertisement / promotion information is stored in an advertisement / promotion DB (not shown) or the like, and the control unit 27 appropriately reads and displays the information on the fan terminal 30.

  The processing of the fan terminal 30 described above can also be executed by the inter-chamber processor 17. In this case, the member savings member inputs the member ID by holding the fan terminal 30 over the terminal holding portion 174b and reading the two-dimensional image code displayed on the data output portion 33. By operating the ten-key 173a of the display operation unit 173, the coin savings member inputs authority information and a request to present a coin savings account. The data of the savings account and the savings maintenance cost data are displayed on the display unit 173b of the display operation unit 173.

<Process when savings account is frozen>
When the remaining coins or the number of accumulated coins run out during the game, the accumulated coin member may leave the member card 40 in the card insertion slot 174a and return home. When the member card 40 is left in the card insertion slot 174a, there is a possibility that the member card 40 is illegally used by another person. Before the fraudulent use of the member card 40, the member of the savings account can request the freezing of the savings account through the fan terminal 30. FIG. 13 shows the procedure of the freezing process.

  Referring to FIG. 13, the coin savings member accesses the coin savings member service area on the homepage of the third-party management system 20, and starts a request to freeze the coin savings account (S70). That is, the user operates the fan terminal 30 to acquire a fixed form of a request for freezing a savings account, and inputs his / her member ID and authority information from the fan terminal 30 (data input unit 32). As a result, the coin storage account frozen message is transmitted from the fan terminal 30 to the third party management system 20 (S71).

  When the third party management system 20 receives the frozen message of the savings account from the fan terminal 30 (S80), the personal authentication unit 22 and the savings member management unit 25 authenticate and identify the savings member (S81). Further, the ball account managing unit 26 specifies the ball account of the ball member from the ball account DB 24 and freezes the account (S82). For example, the savings account management unit 26 disables the flag indicating whether the savings account can be used. It should be noted that even if the account is frozen, the bank account data itself is still stored. Thereafter, the third-party management system 20 publishes an account frozen message indicating that the bank account has been frozen in the area accessed by the fan terminal. That is, the account frozen message is transmitted to the fan terminal 30 (S83). In this way, the third-party management system 20 freezes the savings account upon receipt of the freezing account frozen message.

  The fan terminal 30 that has received the account frozen message from the third-party management system 20 displays a message indicating that the bank account has been frozen by the data output unit 33 (S72, S73). Upon completion of the display, the savings account freezing process ends. Through the above processing, the coin savings member can prevent illegal use of the coin saving account due to forgetting to pull out the member card 40 from the card insertion slot 174a. By releasing the freezing of the savings account, the use of the savings account with the original savings data is resumed. When the use is resumed after the account is frozen, the savings cost data may be subtracted from the savings account.

  According to the present embodiment, when a gaming arcade member (ball savings member) uses the ball savings account, the ball savings maintenance cost data is subtracted from the ball savings account. The third-party institution provided with the third-party management system 20 can collect the operating costs necessary for providing the ball-saving / replay service by using the ball-keeping data, so that the cost for spreading the ball-saving / replay service is increased. Can be provided. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the maintenance cost of a system that uses the savings or replays of balls and the backup of the savings in the game hall.

  In the present embodiment, a computer program that determines the content of the processing performed in the game arcade system 10 is stored in the game management device 13, and the computer program that determines the content of the processing performed in the third party management system 20 is a third party management system. Although the description has been made on the assumption that the data is stored in the storage unit 20, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, it can be recorded on a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD and distributed. In addition, a form in which the computer program is recorded in a program server, and is appropriately downloaded and used by the game management device 13 or the third party management system 20 is also possible.

Claims (8)

A first coin account in which a game ball member can save a physical game ball acquired by a gaming machine or replay using the coin, and ball coin data representing the number of game balls acquired by the game member is accumulated. A third-party management system connected via a communication network to a game arcade system having
Communication means for communicating with the game field system,
Registration means for registering a second coin account of the game hall member updated in correspondence with the first coin account ;
And management means you accumulate before Symbol貯玉data to said second貯玉account,
Second communication control means for permitting access to an information terminal operated by a gaming hall member;
Control means for presenting the second ball account of a gaming arcade member to the information terminal ,
The management means, if the second ball account is not updated for a certain period of time, deduct ball storage maintenance cost data of a value corresponding to a predetermined number of the game balls from the second ball account,
The management means is configured to charge a predetermined number of coins from the first coin account at the start of replay with respect to a card storing the number of coins acquired or consumed by the gaming arcade member during the game. After that, when the ball maintenance cost data is subtracted from the first ball account, the second ball account is updated based on the first ball account from which the ball maintenance cost data is subtracted,
The management means, if the number of newly accumulated ball is less than a predetermined number, or if the ball is stored again before the date is changed, the ball storage maintenance cost data is 0,
The control means, when receiving the ball-inquiry inquiry message from the information terminal by the second communication control means, authenticates the gaming-field member and guides information describing the ball-maintenance-cost data of the gaming-field member and the deduction timing thereof. A bill account data message including the following is created, and the guide information is displayed on the information terminal by transmitting the bill account data message to the information terminal by the second communication control means.
Third-party management system for savings data. The management means determines whether the accumulation status of the ball savings data or the consumption status of the ball savings data in the second ball savings account satisfies a predetermined condition, and, if so, the ball holding maintenance cost data from the second ball savings account. Characterized by deduction,
The third party management system according to claim 1. The management unit may subtract the貯玉maintenance data of different value depending on the balance of the second貯玉account from the second貯玉account,
The third party management system according to claim 2. The management unit may subtract the貯玉maintenance data of different value depending on the change in the number of storage before and after the貯玉data to the second貯玉account from the second貯玉account,
The third party management system according to claim 2. The information terminal is for transmitting a request for freezing the ball account of the gaming facility member,
The management unit freezes the second bank account on receipt of the freeze request,
The third party management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A game arcade system that enables a player to play a ball or a replay using the ball in a gaming machine using a physical gaming ball,
Registration means for registering the ball account of the game hall member,
Management means for accumulating ball savings data representing the number of gaming balls acquired by the gaming hall member in the ball savings account, and deducting ball savings maintenance cost data of a value corresponding to a predetermined number of the game balls from the ball savings account,
Communication means for transmitting the coin account to the external third-party management system in association with the game hall member identification information,
When the ball account is not updated for a certain period of time, the management means deducts the ball maintenance cost data from the ball account, and stores the number of coins acquired or consumed by the gaming hall member during the game. When a predetermined number of coins is charged from the coin account at the start of the replay, the coin maintenance data is deducted from the coin account, and if the number of coins newly stored is less than the predetermined number, or if the date is not changed. Wherein the ball storage maintenance cost data when the ball storage is performed again is set to 0 ,
Playground system. Operating a computer as a third-party management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
Computer program. Operating a computer as the game arcade system according to claim 6 .
Computer program.

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