Abstract: In a game system for use in a card game by using a plurality of cards which individually have predetermined ability points, a plurality of competition environments are prepared to change the ability points from one to another at every one of the competition environments. Each of the competition environments is determined by a field card. To this end, the game system has a storage device which stores the ability points varied in dependency upon the competition environments. The ability points of each card is stored as attack and defense ability points different from each other and varied by the competition environments. Any other cards, such as magic cards, trap cards, may be prepared.

Abstract: A CPU determines the position of a ball in a virtual game space, and moves a viewpoint based on viewpoint data and the position of the ball. The CPU displays on a monitor TV a portion of a volleyball court in a visible range based on the viewpoint and the direction of an axis thereof. The CPU determines a landing position of the ball, displays a first cursor at the landing position, and displays a player character as it receives the ball when the distance between the player character and the first cursor becomes a predetermined distance before the ball reaches the landing position. When a served ball is received by a player character, the CPU selects a player character to make an attacking action. The CPU assigns a button to the selected player character. When the ball is set by a player character as a setter, the CPU assigns an attack button, and controls the selected player character to perform the attacking action in response to an input signal from the attack button.

Abstract: An image creating apparatus selectively displays a plurality of scenes on a display unit. The image creating apparatus includes an image-data storage unit including at least three data storage areas in each of which image data of one frame on the display unit are stored, a picture-signal processing unit for generating the image data of one frame and for cyclically storing the generated data in the data storage areas, an image output unit for cyclically reading and successively outputting the image data stored in the data storage areas, a switching-designation unit for outputting a signal for designating the switching of each scene displayed on the display unit, and a processing-control unit for switching the scene being displayed on the display unit from an old scene to a new scene when the switching-designation signal is output.

Abstract: When a player character moves closer to an opponent character, the viewpoint of a hypothetical camera which is capturing the image of the characters also moves closely to the characters, and a distance extractor determines the distance from the viewpoint of the hypothetical camera to an object model as an obstacle behind which one of the characters is concealed. Then, a transparency extractor obtains a transparency level corresponding to the determined distance from a transparency information table. Using the obtained transparency level, an image data processor generates image data of pixels of the object model, and combines the generated image data with image data of pixels of the character.

Abstract: A video game implementing a fishing game employs a fishing line operated by a fisher character under the control of a game player. A take-up amount computing unit performs a cumulative processing to add a predetermined amount of take-up of the fishing line, each time an operation determining unit determines that the state of a take-up button has been changed from off to on state or that the state of tilt of a stick controller has been changed. Therefore, the fishing line is taken up at a high speed when the take-up button is struck at a high frequency or when the stick controller is rotationally operated at a high speed.

Abstract: A game system comprises a first storing device storing data for identifying strength and weakness of characters belonging to a player and an opponent; a first display control device for displaying a first game picture which expresses a state of a competitive game in which the player and the opponent compete by using the characters; an outcome determining device for determining an outcome of the competitive game based on the data stored in the first storing device; a second storing device storing data for identifying, with respect to a plurality of areas defined by dividing a predetermined field into a matrix, that each of the areas belongs to a territory of the player or the opponent; a second display control device for displaying a second game picture, on which the field is expressed in such a manner that the territory belonging to the player can be differentiated from the territory belonging to the opponent, based on the data stored in the second storing device; and a data updating device for changing the d

Abstract: A video game device of this invention comprises a speech/action storage device for storing contents of various speeches and actions of a leader character to be given to a main character as an ability growth object; an ability value updating device for successively updating an ability value of the main character according to the execution result of the content of the speech/action; a parameter storage device for storing an enthusiasm parameter which is set to be a positive value for each training-related speech/action and a negative value for any other speech/action; an enthusiasm parameter adding device for adding a set value to a present enthusiasm parameter given to the main character every time the speech/action is executed; a reliability degree calculating means for calculating a reliability degree between the main character and the leader character; and a judging device for judging a successful growth of the main character.

Abstract: In a game system, performance data which stipulates sequences of manipulations and allocation of sound effects for the manipulations can be set practically. The game system has memory device which stores performance data stipulating manipulations of a controller provided in correspondence with a predetermined musical piece; the performance data comprises information specifying a manipulation timing relating to at least one timing manipulation member provided on the controller, and information specifying which one of a plurality of selection manipulation members provided on the controller is to be manipulated in correspondence with the manipulation of the timing manipulation member; either one of the information specifying the manipulation timing included in the performance data and the information specifying the selection manipulation member can be edited independently of the other based on a command supplied via the controller by a player.

Abstract: A drum rhythm game apparatus and a guitar rhythm game apparatus each includes a staging operating unit. Playing progression information, which includes sector numbers, is transferred between the drum rhythm game apparatus and the guitar rhythm game apparatus, thereby enabling staging operation to be implemented from each of the staging operating units while synchronizing the visual staging instructions provided to players of the game for the background music piece to be played at both the drum rhythm game apparatus and the guitar rhythm game apparatus. This allows the game to be played in a state closer to reality in which multiple players each have staging operating units as different instrument, such as with an actual band, making the game more enjoyable.

Abstract: A flat foot switch unit has a surface has a slippage-preventing measure. In this, a foot switch section has a four-sided surface shape and step-motion-detectable foot switches internally formed in nine regions by dividing the surface shape in 3×3. Furthermore, the foot switch section has slippage-preventing linear grooves at least in the regions on the surface of the top layer of a first sheet unit, which is part of the surface shape, and in which the foot switches are arranged.

Abstract: A portable game machine has a game-processing unit accommodated in a housing. The game-processing unit displays, on a display, at least the image of a sub-block to be struck among a plurality of stacked sub-blocks and a main-block thereon. The game-processing unit also uses, among first strike data and second strike data sequentially input from an input unit by a game player, the first strike data as information for determining a virtual displacement of a sub-block positioned at a predetermined stage among the plurality of sub-blocks, and the second strike data as a displacement of the sub-block within the virtual displacement, and determines the displacement of the sub-block based on the second strike in the game-processing unit. The game-processing unit displays, on the display, a resultant image corresponding to the state of each of the blocks which changes based on the determination result.

Abstract: An image creating apparatus displays a plurality of identical game-element images in predetermined colors on an image display unit by pasting textures on polygons provided in a virtual three-dimensional space. The image creating apparatus includes a polygon-data storage unit for storing the coordinates of N (integer not less than 2) sets of polygons constituting the element images so that N game elements are arranged and displayed on the display unit; a texture-selection-data storage unit for selecting one set of the textures which corresponds to one of the characters; a color-data storage unit for storing, as a basic color, a first color determined for the one set of the textures; a color-data setting unit for setting a second color; and a composite-color setting unit for setting composite colors for the textures to be pasted on N sets of polygons, the composite colors being obtained by mixing the first color and the second color at different ratios.

Abstract: A video game system has a controller including a CPU which functions as a controller action detecting unit, a target position calculating unit, and a cursor display control unit, among others. The controller action detecting unit detects X and Y coordinates corresponding to a tilted direction and a tilted angle of a stick-type controller. The target position calculating unit calculates a target position to be reached by a movable character, such as a stone used in curling, based on the X and Y coordinates detected by the controller action detecting unit. The cursor display control unit sends an instruction signal to display a bar indicative of the target position to a signal processor, the bar having a width commensurate with the distance from a predetermined position, such as a stone throwing position, to the target position.

Abstract: Characters to be grown, growth factor data representing the growth degree of each character and background information for expressing background environment for each character are stored. According to a result of analysis of a sound characteristic of sound source data analyzed by an input data analyzing section 211, a background information processing section 213 or a character processing section 215 retrieves data for realizing a corresponding expression manner. An image managing section 220 produces CG images representing a character and background environment based on the data in question and allows them to be displayed on a screen, so that a game player can confirm musical taste of the game player by watching the images in the growth process of the character. As a result, there is provided a display control apparatus which can diversify an expression manner of images according to inputted sound source data and thus enhance attractiveness of a game.

Abstract: A video game apparatus implementing a simulating fishing game displays an animation image representing behavior of a fish hooked on a lure. The video game apparatus has a first determining unit determines that a first condition has been met, when a fish is hooked on a lure by the operation of a game procedure controlling unit, or when the fish under the control of the game procedure controlling unit exhibits such a behavior as to apply a strong tension on the fishing line or to jump up above the water surface. An animation display controlling unit causes a monitor to display an animation image which has been stored in a storage medium and which represents a fished hooked on a fishing line, in such a manner as to enable identification of the fisher character who has hit the fish. A switching unit switches the game display screen displayed on the monitor from the fishing image to the animation image, when the first determining unit has determined that the first condition is met.

Abstract: Enabling an animation character object, which is pictorially deformed by computer graphics techniques to visually represent human body or animal or the like in the form of a caricature or model, to offer precise and more natural motions at its selected constituent portions that have inherently no joints and no bones by giving thereto joints and skeletons. To this end, apparatus and method for generating skeleton-based animation images in accordance with the principles of the invention include solving means as follows. A face section of a cubic character object is provided with auxiliary skeletons as vertically coupled together. Skeletons are provided which extend from respective endpoints of such auxiliary skeletons and are coupled defining an umbrella shape as a whole. These skeletons are associated with models each consisting of an ensemble of polygons for rendering the character deformable by changing rotation amount of each skeleton.

Abstract: A video game machine uses a leading game character operated by a game player. The game character can be selected from among a first game character and a second game character. The video game machine includes a recording medium. The recording medium contains a first game content having the first character as a leading game character, a second game content having the second character as a leading game character, and a third game content that can be enabled only when the first and second game contents are met. The first and second game contents are provided so that the first and second characters act independently in the same game world. The first and second game contents are independent of each other, but have relevance in that the first game content uses the second character and the second game content uses the first character.

Abstract: A control system of a game apparatus, such as a racing game apparatus, has a CPU for controlling a signal processor based on a program stored in a computer-readable recording medium to process three-dimensional image data for perspective projection and horizontal image distortion correction for images to be projected onto a curved projection screen. The CPU also controls an image display processor to write the processed image data into a RAM, from which the image data is supplied to an image projector to project the images onto the curved projection screen. The curved projection screen gives a game player, e.g., a racing car driver, a horizontally long panoramic view in front of the game player so that the images displayed on the curved projection screen look wide and realistic.