Abstract: A method of enabling the playing of a game is described in which an electronic message requesting assistance is sent during a game being played by a gamer. Assistance is provided for a portion of the game in the form of an additional character in the game.

Abstract: A number of components parts are presented to a user in a game from which they can select and assemble a number of parts into a machine. Some or all of the component parts may have controllable parameters and these are mapped to an input on the games controller used to play the game.

Abstract: A method of translating data relating to a character in a game is described. The method produces amended data relating to the character which may be imported into another game or other application. The method involves identifying the target application and an attribute of the exported character data and then modifying the character data based on this information.

Abstract: A method of enabling the playing of a game is described in which an electronic message requesting assistance is sent during a game being played by a gamer. Assistance is provided for a portion of the game in the form of an additional character in the game.

Abstract: A method of connecting gaming devices together is described which enables multi-party gaming between devices with different feature sets. A device receives data from several gaming devices and determines which features each gaming device requires These required features are those which are not held at the particular device but are held by one or more of the other devices. Code relating to the particular features required by each gaming device is then transferred to each of the gaming devices.

Abstract: A system for sharing information between separately executable programs is provided. The data sharing system includes a control unit (11) having a processor (12) and a memory (16) coupled to the processor (12). The memory (16) stores information pertaining to a first program that was previously executed by the processor (12). The data sharing system also includes a data storage medium (14) that stores a second program executable by the processor (12). When executed by the processor, the second program retrieves information pertaining to the first program from the memory and utilizes the information pertaining to the first program with the execution of the second program.