Abstract: Disclosed is a technology that allows a user of a mobile phone having a game execution function to easily find another mobile phone user who can immediately play a match-up with him/her in the game. A page of an opponent selection site that is provided by a server apparatus is individually created for each mobile phone user who logs on while assigning the kind of a game for a match-up. On the opponent selection site, match-up opponent candidates who are liable to play a match-up in the game of the kind assigned by the mobile phone user who logs on are listed.

Abstract: An online game server delivers an online game to a player terminal via a communication network. The online game is played in the player terminal operated by a player. The online game server receives object selection information indicating that an object selectably displayed on a game display screen of the online game is selected at the player terminal. The online game server then transmits related site specification information to the player terminal on the basis of the received object selection information. The related site specification information is used for the player terminal to access a related site related to the object. Game progress information necessary for progress of the online game is included in the related site. The related site specification information is a URL indicating an address of the related site or a search formula for searching for the related site using a search engine.

Abstract: In a video game that progresses a game using a limited number of items, the game can be made more interesting. In an area data table 126-1 of a first area, a brand ‘CAT’ having a previous brand point ‘14%’ is ‘BEST 1’, and a brand ‘BOAR’ having a previous brand point ‘13%’ is ‘BEST 2’. In addition, a brand ‘TIGER’ having a previous brand point ‘3%’ is ‘WORST 2’, and a brand ‘RAT’ having a previous brand point ‘2%’ is ‘WORST 1’. Accordingly, if a player character executes a battle against an enemy character in the first area, when an item of the brand ‘CAT’, which is ‘BEST 1’, is used, its power becomes three times higher than a reference power, and when an item of the brand ‘BOAR’, which is ‘BEST 2’, is used, its power becomes one and half times higher than the reference power. In addition, when an item of the brand ‘TIGER’, which is ‘WORST 2’, is used, its power becomes 0.5 times lower than the reference power, and an item of the brand ‘RAT’, which is ‘WORST 1’, becomes unavailable.

Abstract: To reflect a player's degree of skill in a battle between a player character and an enemy character, and increase a strategic element. In the event that a player selects magic as an action of a player character in a battle between a player character and an enemy character, a puzzle battle is started. In the puzzle battle, a magic army (a block frame) is displayed on a display device in accordance with a kind of magic selected, the player moves or rotates a block falling from above the display device by operating an input device, stops it in a desired position, and fills the magic army. In the event that all squares of the magic army are filled with the blocks before a time elapsing from a start of the puzzle battle, displayed on an elapsed time gauge, reaches a prescribed time, the magic selected by the player is unleashed, and inflicts damage on the enemy character. An effectiveness of the magic depends on an overlapping, and a protrusion from the magic army, of the blocks.

Abstract: Disclosed is a contents information search control system that, when automatic search of contents, such as game software, is performed with a terminal, such as a cellular phone, according to a user's preference, can reflect a change in user's interest or expansion of a target range of an interest. A change in user's interest is quantitatively grasped as an interest vector, and when the interest vector satisfies a predetermined condition, a search condition is updated to reflect the change in the user's interest in a search condition. In addition, expansion of a target range of the user’s interest is quantitatively grasped as distance information, and when the distance information satisfies a predetermined condition, the search condition is updated to reflect the expansion of the target range of the user's interest in the search condition. The interest vector or the distance information is calculated from an automatic search result on the basis of contents selected by a user, and updated as occasion demands.

Abstract: To apply a certain change to a displayed image while controlling a position and direction of a character and a virtual camera. In changing a direction of a character card without changing its position, when the direction changes slowly a direction of a character changes according to change direction of the character card, and a visual point of a virtual camera moves circularly according to the change direction of the character. When the direction of the character card is changed fast only the visual point moves circularly and the direction of the character does not change.

Abstract: When a new character is selected by a game player, the game apparatus changes the visual point and the visual axis corresponding to the newly selected character with preventing camera sickness. When a character is changed, a visual point moves from point A to point B parallel to the line connecting a start point and a finish point with maintaining a direction of a visual axis. And then the visual point circular moves from point B to point C at a predetermined speed.

Abstract: A parallel processing system and method for performing processing tasks in parallel on a plurality of processors breaks down a processing task into a plurality of self-contained task objects, each of which has one or more “data-waiting” slots for receiving a respective data input required for performing a computational step. The task objects are maintained in a “waiting” state while awaiting one or more inputs to fill its slots. When all slots are filled, the task object is placed in an “active” state and can be performed on a processor without waiting for any other input. The “active” tasks objects are placed in a queue and assigned to a next available processor. The status of the task object is changed to a “dead” state when the computation has been completed, and dead task objects are removed from memory at periodic intervals.

Abstract: A video game determines a reward acquired by a player character that has won a battle. If the player character inflicts damage of at least a predetermined value on an enemy character and kills the enemy character, the experience points acquired by the player character increase and the number of acquired items is also increased. If damage inflicted by the player character on the enemy character, immediately before the player character defeats the enemy character, is at least the predetermined value, then the reward of the battle is thus modified favorably for the player.

Abstract: A message exchanging method enables simple interactions between two users during message exchanges and enables one-to-one interactions to shift to interactions between three or more users. Upon receiving a message from a third person while two users are exchanging messages using a messenger, a client machine requests a server to open a chat room. The client that connects to a chat room activates a chat application using the messenger to allow the users to engage in a chat.

Abstract: An information servicing method for communicating information between a server and a client terminal through a network, comprising: deciding whether a predetermined time period has elapsed without user input; switching a prevailing processing to a background processing when it is decided that the no user input has occurred during the predetermined time period; transmitting to the server personal information comprising user preference data and/or a schedule, registered in advance, each time the prevailing processing becomes background processing; and displaying an answer corresponding to the transmitted personal information when the answer is received from the server, the answer comprising push information correlating to the personal information.

Abstract: The present invention enables restriction of content of information in a message, which has been prepared by a user and is provided in an information service system for the viewing by a group of users, in accordance with a use purpose. The message information is prepared by selecting and combining words from a word group prepared in advance. The information for viewing is prepared by a game device.

Abstract: When an upper part of a cross key is operated with a controller, a cursor is moved to an object name above an initial position where the cursor was located in a list, and an icon is moved to a corresponding object in an object display area. When a lower part of the cross key is operated, the cursor is moved to an object name below the initial position, and the icon is moved to the corresponding object in the object display area. When a right part of the cross key is operated, the icon is moved to the object to the right of an initial position where the icon was in the object display area, and the cursor is moved to the corresponding object name in the list. When a left part of the cross key is operated, the icon is moved to the object to the left of the initial position in the object display area, and the cursor is moved to the corresponding object name in the list.

Abstract: In the present invention, for an unprocessed joint, a joint index and a joint rotation angle are obtained (S25, S27). For the unprocessed vertex corresponding to the obtained joint index, a vertex index and a weight w for the vertex are obtained. On the basis of the weight w and the rotation angle in the current frame, coordinate values of the vertex buffer are changed. A quarternion q1 according to the joint rotation angle in the current frame and a unit quarternion are sphere-linear interpolated with the weight w. From the resultant quarternion q, a conversion matrix R is determined for the joint. An overall conversion matrix M is obtained as M=RJTB, where a matrix T represents a relative coordinates from a parent joint, a matrix J represents a basic rotation angle, and B denotes a conversion matrix of the parent joint.

Abstract: An electronic comic including at least one frame on each page, each of the frames having a balloon portion displaying words and a frame image, is viewed on a screen of a display device. The balloon portion and the frame image are stored as image data, and words displayed in the balloon portion are displayed as text data separately from the image data.

Abstract: A video game including a player's character that can move in a currently executed game stage. When the target position to be next reached by a player's character does not exist within a radar screen display area in the game field, a flashing target position mark is displayed in the vicinity of the intersection of a segment connecting the player's character position, the target position and the end portion of the radar screen. Thus, the direction toward the target position viewing from the player's character position can be recognized by the target position mark.

Abstract: A variety of a sub-character's actions are analyzed so that the sub-character is more likely to act in the friendly characters' favor. A command-execution-value table is provided for sub-characters. The table stores command-execution-values corresponding to multiple characters with respect to each of the commands that can be executed by the sub-character. One of the commands is selected in association with the character to which the selected command is applied. The selection is based upon the command-execution-values corresponding to characters displayed on a display screen. The selected command is applied to the selected character, and a degree of effect of the command execution is obtained. The current command-execution-value is updated to a new command-execution-value calculated based upon the effect degree.

Abstract: A server group includes a mail server and multiple game servers that provide different games. The mail server includes a character information table where a character name used in each game is registered and associated with a user and a game name and a mailbox prepared for each user. When receiving a request for using an extended mail address from a terminal apparatus, the mail server generates an extended mail address including the character name as a mail account and the game name as a domain, referring to the character information table. When receiving the mail using the extended mail address as a destination address, the mail server stores the mail to a mailbox of the user corresponding to the extended mail address.

Abstract: Changing a game progressing speed dynamically by the operation of a player. While a high-speed mode key is being depressed by the player, at a game progress/musical tempo determination, the game progress of a frame image to be formed is quadrupled, for example, to realize a game progressing speed of four times. While a low-speed mode key is being depressed by the player, at the same determination, there are repeated the operations in which the formation of the frame image is skipped by three times, for example, and in which the formation is then once made. As a result, there is realized a quarter game progressing speed. In either case, a flag for changing a musical tempo is changed to a value according to the mode, and the tempo of the music to be reproduced is changed on the basis of the flag and according to the image.

Abstract: A central position of each character participating in a battle is obtained as a fixation point, and multiple temporary points are set on a hemisphere around the fixation point. Each temporary viewpoint position is set on a straight line connecting the fixation point to each temporary point. Each temporary viewpoint position is a position from which all characters can be projected on a virtual screen when perspective transformation is executed at a predetermined visual angle and a distance to the fixation point is shortest. Points are given to each temporary viewpoint position based on the result of a distance evaluation, an angle evaluation, an overlap evaluation, and a height difference evaluation. The top scoring temporary viewpoint positions are selected as positions where the viewpoint of a virtual camera should be moved.