Patents Examined by William H McCulloch, Jr.
  • Patent number: 12157056
    Abstract: A virtual environment display method and apparatus, for human-machine interaction, which displays a first interface including object display pages of virtual objects belonging to a first group and object display pages of virtual objects in a second group, at least one virtual object having a skin on a corresponding object display page; switches, in response to skins that are owned by the virtual objects in the same group and that belong to the same skin series meeting a trigger condition, a specified environment element in a virtual environment to a virtual environment element corresponding to the skin series, the virtual environment for the virtual objects belonging to the first group and the virtual objects belonging to the second group to perform a movement; and displays a second interface including a picture acquired from the virtual environment, the virtual environment including the virtual environment element corresponding to the skin series.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2024
    Assignee: TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventor: Yong Rong Jiao
  • Patent number: 12151166
    Abstract: The present invention integrates physical reality components and digital reality components in a single integrated reality gamified application. A game development platform assisted by Artificial Intelligence turns legacy construction games into virtual reality playgrounds for imaginative and insightful gamified applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2024
    Inventor: Reuven Bakalash
  • Patent number: 12145066
    Abstract: Systems and methods for a unitary physics engine and image smoothing is provided. In this method, a game and a plug-in physics engine are initialized on multiple gaming systems. Time advancement messages are received by a controller within the physics engine from a reflector, causing the physics engine to compute events in a queue up to the time of the timing message, according to the same set of physics rules. This causes a deterministic computation of all object positions within the game that is identical across all gaming systems. In between the deterministic calculations, the local gaming system may compute speculative object positions, based upon the last deterministic position and the accelerations, velocities and object attributes at that moment. These speculative calculations may be performed at least as often as the frame rate of the display (typically 30, 60 or 120 frames per second).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: CEO Vision, Inc
    Inventors: Brian Upton, Bert Freudenberg, David A. Smith
  • Patent number: 12138531
    Abstract: Provided is an inputting device including an operation button that is pressed in a first direction, a switch that is located in the first direction with respect to the operation button and is pushed by the operation button, a circuit board including a conductor pad located on an outside with respect to an external shape of the operation button when the operation button is viewed in the first direction, and a detection conductor provided on the operation button, in which the detection conductor includes a movable portion attached to the operation button, an elastic portion extending from the movable portion in a direction intersecting with the first direction, and a fixation portion connected to the elastic portion and attached to the conductor pad, and movement of the movable portion in the first direction is permitted by elastic deformation of the elastic portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Isao Okuyama, Masaaki Tonogai, Kiyotaka Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 12121801
    Abstract: In various examples, a user may access or acquire an application to download to the user's local computing device. Upon accessing the application, a local instance of the application may begin downloading to the computing device, and the user may be given the option to play a cloud-hosted instance of the application. If the user selects to play a hosted instance of the application, the cloud-hosted instance of the application may begin streaming while the local instance of the application downloads to the user's computing device in the background. Application state data may be stored and associated with the user during gameplay such that, once the local instance of the application has downloaded, the user may switch from the hosted instance of the application to the local instance to begin playing locally, with the application state information accounted for.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventor: Andrew Fear
  • Patent number: 12121802
    Abstract: A method includes: receiving a plurality of game streams; analyzing each game stream to recognize gameplay activity; obtaining spectating preferences of a user; determining a prioritization of the plurality of game streams based on the recognized gameplay activity and the spectating preferences of the user; providing a recommendation of at least some of the game streams for spectating based on the determined prioritization; responsive to receiving a selection of one of the recommended game streams, then providing the selected game stream for spectating by the user; during the spectating of the selected game stream by the user, monitoring the gameplay activity in the game streams, and updating the prioritization of the plurality of game streams; responsive to detecting a change in the prioritization of the plurality of game streams, then switching the user from the selected game stream to a second selected game stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventor: Elke Wiggeshoff
  • Patent number: 12115456
    Abstract: Method and system for updating a character profile of a virtual character of a telematics-based game. In some examples, a computer-implemented method includes: generating a virtual trip including one or more virtual occurrences with the associated one or more outcomes; presenting a trip success prediction, a predicted change in vehicle condition, a first user-selectable command, and a second user-selectable command to the user; upon receiving the user's selection of the first user-selectable command, updating the character profile by at least initiating the virtual trip with the virtual character; upon receiving the user's selection of the second user-selectable command: updating the one or more outcomes according to a predetermined adjustment; and updating the character profile by at least initiating the virtual trip with the virtual character based on the updated one or more outcomes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: QUANATA, LLC
    Inventors: Micah Wind Russo, Kenneth Jason Sanchez
  • Patent number: 12090410
    Abstract: Systems and methods to support different player types in a franchise game based on ownership of unique digital articles are disclosed. Exemplary implementations may execute an instance of a franchise game, the different player types including a first player type and a second player type providing access to different utilities; receive and perform in-game action instructions from players having different player types, wherein different in-game action instructions fall within different sets of utilities; receive exchange instructions from a particular player having the first player type to obtain a particular affiliation-specific unique digital article; modify the player account for the particular player such that the particular player no longer has the first player type but rather the second player type; receive and perform a particular in-game action instruction from the particular player by virtue of the particular player having the second player type; and/or other steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Mythical, Inc.
    Inventors: Chong Won Ahn, Rudy Koch
  • Patent number: 12090407
    Abstract: A game development system includes: a game apparatus for executing a game program being developed; and an information processing apparatus that is communicably connected to the game apparatus. Processing that the game program being developed causes the computer of the game apparatus to execute includes generating a log relating to the data to be used in the game processing during execution of the game processing, which is processing for generating, in a binary format, a log in which a character string indicating a place holder and a character string that is not a place holder are included in a designated alignment, and the data to be substituted into the place holder is included.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: NINTENDO CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Sho Inaba
  • Patent number: 12094305
    Abstract: The present invention relates to gaming machines, systems and methods of gaming. There are a number of different ways available for determining an award by current gaming machines and systems. In this embodiment, a game controller is arranged to determine an award depending on the number of columns spanned by a cluster of symbols and the number of symbol positions in the cluster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited
    Inventors: Ryan Paul Hawkins, Yanis Tsombanidis, Stephanie Johns, Robert Honeycutt
  • Patent number: 12083404
    Abstract: Provided is a technique that makes it possible to more efficiently present feedback information from a second user to a first user regarding a playing state of the first user. An information processor is provided, which includes an acquisition section and a transmission control section. The acquisition section acquires feedback information regarding first generated information from a terminal of a second user different from a first user who plays golf. The first generated information is generated using a detected result of an event based on sensor information indicating information related to the first user who plays golf. The transmission control section controls transmission of the feedback information to a terminal of the first user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Satoshi Yamazaki, Motoyuki Sugioka, Takeshi Suzuki, Kazuhiro Nakagomi, Yoshiyuki Miyamoto
  • Patent number: 12083424
    Abstract: A user breeds a virtual life form by practicing good sleep habits and stays motivated toward practicing good sleep habits while enjoying breeding the virtual life form. A game server manages progress of a breeding game of a virtual life form, the game server including circuitry configured to acquire sleep data that at least includes a sleep pattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; store the acquired sleep data as a sleep history; and update the breeding game based on the sleep pattern in the sleep history.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: THE POKEMON COMPANY
    Inventors: Takayuki Shindo, Satoshi Ogawa, Kaname Kosugi, Marie Shuto, Koya Nakahata
  • Patent number: 12076651
    Abstract: Systems and methods to facilitate usage of multiple currencies having different utilities for different types of players within an online gaming platform are disclosed. Exemplary implementations may execute instances of a game; control player accounts associated with the players; facilitate usage of a first currency that is exchangeable for a first set of utilities by players of a first player type, including a first player; facilitate usage of a second currency that is usable to upgrade players from the first player type to a second player type, wherein upgrading unlocks additional utilities; receive an upgrade instruction from the first player; perform an in-game action falling within the additional utilities on behalf of the first player, wherein the in-game action is performed by virtue of the first player having been upgraded to the second player type; and/or other steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: Mythical, Inc.
    Inventor: Cameron Thacker
  • Patent number: 12064693
    Abstract: Provided are a virtual object selection method and apparatus, a terminal, and a storage medium, belonging to the field of computer and Internet technologies. When a client controls a first virtual object to perform a first operation, and a plurality of second virtual objects are distributed densely in an execution range of the first operation, the client offsets logical positions of the plurality of second virtual objects to ensure that the plurality of second virtual objects may be distinguished and a target virtual object is selected from the plurality of second virtual objects based on offset logical positions. Accordingly, a user is prevented from spending much time to select the target virtual object from the execution range of the first operation, thereby reducing operation time costs of the user and improving the operation efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LTD
    Inventors: Yu Lin Wan, Shan Dong Su
  • Patent number: 12064690
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for executing an application program to control a game based on gameplay of a game player; receiving instructions from the game player and forwarding the instructions for controlling the game in order to manipulate the execution of the application program and to affect the game; setting respective viewpoints, from among a plurality of viewpoints, serving as bases for generating respective watching screens for viewing the game during gameplay of the game player, which viewpoints are offered to respective watching players, among a plurality of watching players, different from the game player; and deleting the at least one of the plurality of viewpoints to be the one of the respective positions of the one of the one or more objects when the one of the one or more objects disappears from view due to the gameplay of the game player.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Toshiya Ikenaga, Nobuaki Tanaka, Yasuhiro Watari, Toshiharu Sayano, Hiromasa Ohkubo
  • Patent number: 12053698
    Abstract: An example of an information processing system causes a player object to exit a game stage at least when the player object satisfies an exit condition as a result of an attack by an enemy object. After the player object exits from the game stage, (a) when a first condition is satisfied, the information processing system returns the player object based on a designated position that is specified by a return input of a first type, which is a position in a first area of the game stage, and (b) when a second condition different from the first condition is satisfied, the information processing system returns the player object based on a designated position that is specified by a return input of a second type, which is a position of a movement target object arranged on the game stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2024
    Assignee: NINTENDO CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shintaro Sato, Shinya Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 12039829
    Abstract: An electronic gaming device provides a rendering pipeline for an electronic game. The rendering pipeline includes a client component and a native component of the rendering pipeline, where the client component is configured to: initiate a rendering operations pipe between the client component and the native component; convert display commands from a source language of the electronic game into rendering operations of an intermediate rendering language; and transmit the rendering operations through the rendering operations pipe to the native component. The native component is configured to: receive the rendering operations via the rendering operations pipe; translate the rendering operations from the intermediate rendering language into rendering operations of the native component; and perform the rendering operations of the native component on the display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Jody Brown, Joseph Bibbo
  • Patent number: 12036471
    Abstract: A method for cloud gaming. The method including generating a video frame when executing a video game at a server. The method including scanning-in the video frame to an encoder at the server scanline-by-scanline. The method including encoding one or more encoder slices as one or more encoded slices at the encoder, wherein each encoded slice is delivered to a buffer at an encoder fill rate. The method including draining a first encoded slice from the buffer to stream the first encoded slice at a buffer drain rate over a network to a client, wherein the first encoded slice is streamed over the network before fully encoding the one or more slices of the video frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Kelvin M. Yong, Mark E. Cerny
  • Patent number: 12023586
    Abstract: A non-limiting example game system includes a processor incorporated within a main body apparatus, and the processor simultaneously controls a player character and a competitive partner character to advance a golf game. The player character is moved, when hitting a ball, toward a next hitting position. During movement, the player character interferes with movement or hitting of the competitive partner character according to an operation of a player. Moreover, when the player character executes a special shot, a shape or a property of a game filed is changed so as to interfere with movement or hitting of the competitive partner character. On the other hand, the competitive partner character interferes with movement or hitting of the player character or another competitive partner character. A victory or defeat of a competition game A is determined based on the time and the number of strokes both required from execution of a tee shot up to a cup-in.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2024
    Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomohiro Yamamura, Kodai Matsumoto, Shinya Saito, Hiroyuki Takahashi, Shugo Takahashi
  • Patent number: 12027021
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to a gaming system conducting a streaming session with a plurality of viewer systems through a streaming system. Conducting of the streaming session can comprise receiving media content from a plurality of input devices and providing the media content and game play information of a gambling event to the streaming system. During the streaming session, an indication of an action by a user of one of the viewer systems and indicating a transfer of value from the user of the one of the viewer systems to a participant in the gambling event associated with the gaming system can be received. An indication of the action by the user of the one of the viewer systems can be provided to the participant in the gambling event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2024
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: Dwayne Nelson, Cameron Filipour, Kevin Higgins