WO2004063848A2

WO2004063848A2 - Game and method for interactive television

Info

Publication number: WO2004063848A2
Application number: PCT/US2003/039308
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christer Swahn; Nils Ake Fahlen
Original assignee: Qp Games Inc.
Priority date: 2003-01-06
Filing date: 2003-12-10
Publication date: 2004-07-29
Also published as: AU2003297845A1; WO2004063848A3; AU2003297845A8

Abstract

The method is for playing an interactive game in a television program (202) organized by an organizer (240). The program (202) has a view (200), participating players (206-224) and a viewer (230) with a telephone device (232). A question (234), multiple-choice answers (236a-236d) and a telephone number (244) are displayed on the view (200). The players (206-224) select one of the multiple-choice answers (236a-236d). The viewer (230) digitally selects one of the multiple-choice answers (236a-236d) and calls the telephone number (244) with the telephone device (232). The viewer pays a fee (254) for sending a response signal (238) including the selected answers (236a-236d) to the organizer (240). A correct answer (235) to the question (234) is displayed.

Description

GAME AND METHOD FOR INTERACTIVE TELEVISION Technical Field

The present invention relates to a game for interactive television.

Background of Invention

The watching of television quizzes and other such games is a major pastime for people all over the world. To test one' s knowledge and strategic skills is an appealing combination for many. The increasing use of interactive television has opened up new opportunities. However, there is no intelligent game available that takes full advantage of the interactive television while providing the player with excitement and the ability to win prizes/money based on one's knowledge and strategic/tactical skills. There is a need for an intelligent interactive television game that provides some of the features outline above and requires both tactical and strategic skills of each player.

Summary of Invention

The interactive game of the present invention provides a solution to the above-outlined problems. More particularly, the method of the present invention is for playing an interactive game in a television program organized by an organizer. The program has a view, participating players and a TV viewer with a telephone device. A question, multiple choice answers and a telephone number are displayed on..the _γiew.. The players select one of the multiple choice answers. The TV viewer digitally selects one of the multiple choice answers and calls the telephone number with the telephone device. The viewer pays a fee for sending a response signal including the selected answers to the organizer. A correct answer to the question is displayed.

Brief Description of Drawings Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a lobby view of the game of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a game room view of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of an active game view of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of an interactive television screen broadcasting the game of the present invention; and

Fig. 5 is a view of a mobile -phone connectable to the game of the present invention.

Detailed Description

With reference to Figs. 1-3, the game 10 of the present invention has a plurality of players that may compete against one another in competitions or tournaments of knowledge on interactive network media such as the Internet. It is to be understood that fewer or more players may play the game. For example, it is possible to play the game with only one -player, as outlined below. A player can accumulate points from all previously completed games. Certain games and competitions also require the player to bet money. In operation, the players, such as the player 12, may start by downloading software 62 to display a lobby view 64, as best shown in Fig. 1. The view 64 has selectable game folders such as stakes 66, quick 68, single 70, tournament area 72, current competition 74, upcoming competition 76 and completed competitions 78. The software 62 is associated with a database 28 that has questions and answers, as explained below.

Many games under the stakes button 66 require the payment of a stake amount. It is possible for a potential player to pre-view the game without participating. Questions from a supplementary database 29 are shown so that the player will not see the real questions and headings from the database 28. In Fig. 1, the folder for the current competition 74 has been activated and is displayed in a screen 75. For example, a Mercedes 40OS will be awarded the winner in one of the games in about 90 days. The initial stake is $60 and the game has 30162 participating players.

All players must first open a personal game account 84 to participate. In order to participate in a closed tournament, the player 12 must also have accumulated a sufficient amount of placement points, as described below. More particularly, the player 12 obtains a money account 82 and a points-account 80. The player may then see the current balance by activating a cashier 86. By activating a game room button 88, the player may enter one of the play-rooms and initiate a new game together with nine other players before the game can start. The player 12 may activate a competition 89 to enter one of the games shown in the display 75 by paying the required stake amount such as $60 for the highlighted Mercedes 400S game. The stake amount is withdrawn from the player's cash account 82. A player may enter more than one game listed in the display 75.

By activating the stakes button 66, the software 62 displays a game room display 90, as best shown in Fig. 2, and the player 12 is asked to activate one of the available seats 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27 that compete against one another in the knowledge competition/game 10 by using the Internet .

One unique feature of the game 10 is the combination of the game method with the database 28 that has questions 30 and answers 32. The questions 30 may be divided into categories 31. For example, the categories 31 may include sports, games and leisure 34, popular culture 36, fine culture 38, matter and energy 40, technology universe 42, history and geography 44, society and ideas 46, words and languages 48, life and life forms 50, trivia 52. Of course, other categories may be used and the above is only used as an illustrative example. Also, the same category may appear several times on the slot machine display 51 while other categories do not appear at all.

There may be three sets of difficulty level of each question 30 such as easy 54, normal 56 and difficult 58 questions. Each question 30 has a heading associated therewith. The heading should be such that it is suitable to the question regardless of the difficulty level 54, 56, 58 selected by the players.

When the stakes button 66 has been activated by the player 12, the software 62 displays an active game view 92, as best shown in Fig. 3. Among other things, the view 92 shows the alias name of the player 93, wager amount 94 and the total points 96 for the player 12 in this particular game. After each player has registered and paid the various administrative/wager/stake amounts the player obtains 300 chips or points to play with in this upcoming game. The total points 96 only shows the total accumulated points for this particular game and these points are only significant during the course of this particular game. The points-account 80 shows the accumulated placement points, as expressed in the ranking display 116, after completion of the tenth round, that the player has accumulated from previously completed games. The same information is displayed for the other players. In certain game rooms, it is also required to pay a stake amount that is withdrawn from the cash account 80 so the first three players win the money put in by the other players. The player at the seat button 12 must now wait until all the seats are filled and a fanfare is played to indicate that the first round is about to start.

The- slot- machine device starts spinning and stops at random so that any of the ten categories 34-52 may appear in the first box 98 of the display 51. The categories in the remaining boxes are also shown one at a time until all the boxes are filled. For illustrative purposes, each of the ten boxes of the display 51 in Fig. 3 shows a different category. As indicated above, in reality the same category can appear more than once while other categories may not appear at all in a particular game.

The order of the player' s action is now determined by lighting up the name of the players in a clockwise circular fashion and the speed of the rotational light is gradually slowed down until the light stops at one of the players. When the light stops at one of the players, such as the player 12, this means that the player is the first player to play in the first round. The player may be marked with an FP "first player" symbol and the next turn goes to the next player in a clockwise order. If the next player in turn is eliminated due to lack of sufficient points to play with, this position is skipped and the turn goes to the next player still in the game. This means that one or several players may have to act first in more than one round.

The first wagering round 118 of the first round of the game now starts. All the players, including the player 12, have been assigned 300 points. This is shown in box 96 for the player 12. The first window 98 showing the category 34 is then lit while the other categories are dimmed. It is now up"to^'"the player 12 to decide the wager amount based on the knowledge of which category has been displayed in the window 98. The wager amount 94 is withdrawn from the player's total game points 96. If the player 12 is knowledgeable in the subject matter a large amount is wagered while a low amount is selected if the player is not very familiar with the subject matter. The wager amount for the player 12 cannot be more than the player' s currently accumulated points score shown in the total points-box 96.

The wager amount of the player 12 is displayed in the box 94 for all the other players to see. The turn now goes to the next player 27 who will display his wager amount in the box 100 and each of the players will sequentially display the wager amount for the first round until all the players have responded. If a player does not respond within a certain time period, the player is assumed to have passed. In every round, a player has the option of passing by activating a pass button 102 so the other players know which players have passed. This means the player choose not to participate in this particular round and the accumulated points amount going into the round remain unchanged until additional action is take in the next round. The player also has the option of continuously passing every round by activating the sit out button. The inactive player can become active again by deactivating the sit out button or activating an "I am back" button. Strategically, a player may choose to pass a couple of rounds to learn about the skill level of the other players.

As indicated earlier, the game requires both knowledge and strategic skills to be successful.

After the first wager round 118 is completed, more information about the question in the category 34 is displayed as a heading 104 and each player will sequentially be asked in a second wager round 120 to reduce the previous wager amount to half or leave the amount as is or double the wager amount. For example, if the player 12 has previously wagered 30 points and decides to reduce the wager amount to half, the new wager amount is 15 points and 285 points remain in the total points 96. If a player does not respond to the wager request within a certain time period, it is assumed that no change in the wagering amount is made. An important feature of the game is that a player will not see the same heading for a question twice so as to be able to foresee the question by recognizing the heading for fairness purposes during the wagering procedure. The software 62 and its database 28 keep track of which questions and heading the players have seen or answered in previous games. However, the player may be asked to answer the same question more than once and is therefore rewarded for playing often. A question that has been asked many times may be phased out and replaced with new questions. In a third wager round 122, the players are asked to select the degree of difficulty of the question covered both by the category 34 and the heading 104. The player has three options including selecting the easy question and double the previous wager amount, selecting the medium difficulty question and triple the previous wager amount or selecting the difficult question and quadruple the previous wager amount. The third wager round 122 is also transparent so that all players know exactly how much the other players can gain by a correctly given answer. If the player does not respond to the selection request within a certain time period, it is assumed that the player selects a question of medium difficulty. When the third wager round 122 is completed, a multiple choice question 106 is now displayed simultaneously to all the players together with four alternative answering buttons 108, 110, 112 and 114. The appropriate question for the selected degree of difficulty appears on the display 106. The players now have, for example, fifteen seconds to respond to the question 106 by pressing one of the buttons 108-114. If no button is pressed within the allowed time period the wager amount is lost. If a player has, for example, selected the difficult version of the question only the difficult question is displayed in the display 106 for that particular player. After the expiration of the response time, the correct answer is given and a tally round 124 begins. If a correct answer is given, the total points-amount is adjusted depending on whether the player selected an easy, medium or difficult question. If an incorrect answer has been given the total amount is reduced by the wager amount from the second wager round 120. Whether the players answered correctly or not is now sequentially displayed and the new total tally points are calculated for each player. The current ranking of the player, after each completed round, is displayed in a ranking display 116. If two players have the same total points then the player who answered first is given the higher rank. If a player has no total points left, the player is placed at number ten and receives ten points that are put into the points-account 80.

Because the players have the opportunity to increase the wager amounts in the second and third wager rounds, a player who has a relatively low total of points may become very competitive in the last round if the correct answer is given and the player cannot therefore be discounted by the other players . The first round of the game is now completed and the players continue with the second round and the game continues until all ten rounds have been completed. After the completion of the tenth round, the final ranking is then displayed in the display 116. The maximum amount of points a winning player can obtain in one game is 150 points and the minimum amount of points is 10 points. The points-account 80 of the winner will now be increased with 150 points and the runner up will get 120 points and so on until the tenth player who receives 10 additional points in the points-account 80. As indicated earlier, the players may also play with money stakes. It is important to keep the points that affect the points-account 80 separate from stakes that affects the cash account 82. For example, the players may not only pay the administration fee, such as $2, but also a stake fee, such as $10. The administration fee is paid to the organizer and is used for administering the game and preparing questions etc. The stake fee is used for prizes so that the winner may receive 50% of the total stake sum of $100 and the second player receives 30% or $30 and the third player may receive 20% or $20. The cash accounts 82 for the top three players are added with the appropriate amount. The quick button 68 activates a simpler version of the game compared to the game that is activated by the stakes button 66. The quick game has only 5 players and only one wager round so that the category and heading are revealed at the same time. All questions are of medium difficulty. The maximum amount of points a player can obtain is 100 points and the minimum amount is 20 points.

The single button 70 activates a game version that enables the player to play solitary but against the statistical results of other players that have played previously. The player simply pays the administration fee to initiate the game. The computer determines how the player answers and wagering amounts compare to the average single player. For example, a player who scores in the 91-100 percentiles compared to the other players, who have completed the solitary version, obtains 150 points while the player that obtains an average score obtains 50-60 points that are added to the points-account 80 of the player. The player may select the category or use a random selection of categories. If the player selects a category then only medium and difficult questions will be provided.

Unless the players are already participating in one of the current competition displayed in the display 75, the players will now be given an option to use the placement points in other tournaments to win a grand prize such as a new Mercedes. For example, the 100 top players with the highest accumulated points in the points-account 80 may be invited to a closed tournament when the tournament is limited to the top hundred players. The player with the highest points may be assigned the first table and the player with the second highest placement points is assigned the second table and so on. The player may accumulate points from the stakes game, the quick game and the single player game in the points- account 80 to participate in the current competition shown in Fig. 1. It should be noted that all players start the current competition 74 with no points so the points in the points- account 80 are only used for qualification purposes. In other words, the previously obtained points are used to qualify the player as being one of the hundred top players that are invited to participate in the final round of the closed current competition 74. It is therefore important for a player to check the player' s position to make sure the player does not fall outside the top one hundred. If the player is dropping in ranking, the player may try to go up in ranking by playing more games to obtain more points. The 100 finalists may be divided into 10 games. The top 10 players then play in the final game to obtain the grand prize. Any player may participate in open tournaments by paying the required fees. Fig. 4 shows an alternative view 200 of the game or

TV program 202 on an interactive television having a screen 204. The view 200 is similar to the view 90 shown in Fig. 2. The game 202 has player positions 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224 for live players. The selected players may be winners of an earlier completed competition described above and have been selected to participate in the TV game 202. The game has a display 226 for displaying randomly selected categories 228 similar to the game 10 described above. The players in the positions 206-224 basically play the game 202 in the same way as the games described in detail above. An important feature of the game 202 is that viewers 230 of the TV program may interactively play the game also by using a mobile telephone 232 or any other suitable communication media. During the progress of the game 202, the questions, such as the question 234 with multiple choice answers 236a-d, appear in a display 233 on the screen 204. The question 234 may be the first question of a round 237 that preferably includes ten questions. Of course, the round 237 may include any suitable number of questions and multiple choice answers. Another important feature of the game 202 is that the questions only have multiple choice answers. Each question requires an objective answer so that they can be responded to by using strings of letters or numbers. Objective multiple choice answers are relatively easy to electronically/digitally review to compute the number of correct answers . Another important feature is that the correct answer 235 is not displayed on the screen 204 until the viewers 230 have had the chance to respond to the question 234 by sending, for example, a SMS message to the organizer 240 of the TV program 202. The screen 204 also shows the current ranking of the players 206- 224 in a display 242 and a SMS telephone number 244 for the viewers 230 to call. In this way, the viewers 230 may participate in the game 202 and respond to the questions by sending mobile phone messages 238 to the displayed number 244 of the organizer 240 of the TV program^" or to any other suitable receiver. For example, the viewers 230 may be invited to participate after the first, fourth and seventh round of the game 202 broadcast by the organization/station 240. The interactive game 202 allows the viewers to answer the question 234 during these rounds and electronically send the answers to the designated SMS number 244 prior to a displayed deadline 246. The correct answers to the questions may be provided after commercial breaks following, for example, the rounds three, six and nine.

The following may be a procedure used by the viewers 230 when participating in the first round that has ten questions. The viewer 230 puts the mobile phone 232 in a write message mode 248. The program host 250 may read out the questions sequentially with time for the players 206-224 and the viewers 230 to respond to the questions. The questions of the round 237 are also displayed in the display 233. The viewers enter the selected multiple-choice letter after each question so the answers to all the questions in the round 237 may be a string of letters 252 such as "bbdacddbcc. " The string of letters should have exactly ten letters if there are ten questions. The answer 252 is then sent to the SMS number 244 of the organizer 240. As indicated above, the program 202 may be interrupted with commercial messages while the players and/or viewers provide their answers so that the non- participating viewers must wait until after the commercial message before the various answers are revealed.

The viewer 230 pays a fee 254 to the organizer of the game 202 and to the telephone carrier when sending the SMS message 238. It is possible for the viewer 230 to participate without being connected to the number 244 when the answer string 252 is generated. For example, if the viewer 230 is connected, the answer 234 and its multiple choice answers 236a-d may appear on a screen 256 of the mobile phone 232.

The screen 256 may also provide the accumulated score 258. In this way, the viewer 230 may not actually have to view the TV screen 204 in order to participate in the game 202.

The same procedure is repeated the next time the viewer 230 is invited to participate in the game 202.

However, it may be possible to either lower or raise the fee 254 compared to the fee charged in the first round 237. As indicated above, the viewer 230 may select and enter the answers 236a-236d while the telephone device 232 is disconnected from the SMS number 244 of the organizer 240. When the complete string 252 of answers has been developed by the viewer 230, the viewer 230 calls the number 244 and submits the entire string 252 that may represent answers to about ten sequential questions 234.

After all the incoming messages 238 have been electronically compiled, sorted according to sending telephone number and tallied according to the score of each viewer, the organizer 240 may send a notification message 260 to the winning viewers such as to the viewer 230. The message 260 may also include an instruction about how to collect the winning amount. For example, the winning viewer 230 may be provided with a winning voucher number 262 and web site information 264. The winning viewer 230 provides bank data so that the money may be transferred to the bank account of the winning viewer 230.

The money may be taken from a prize pot 266 that is set aside from the fees paid by the viewers. For example, fifty percent of the generated fees may be set aside for the prize pot 266. The prize pot 266 may be subdivided so that forty percent goes to players/viewers with all thirty questions correctly answered, twenty percent goes to viewers with 28 and 29 correctly answered questions and the remaining forty percent goes to players/viewers with 25-27 questions answered correctly. If no viewer has answered all questions correctly, the corresponding amount goes towards a jackpot. Also, if the prize money is less than the fee paid by the viewer, the winnings may go towards the same jackpot. The jackpot may then be played out and added to the prize money on one future designated day. It may also be possible for the winning viewer 230 to be selected to compete against the players 206-224.

The game software may be downloaded every time a game is played unless it is saved in a short term cookie file on the individual computer and not permanently downloaded on the individual computer. This facilitates version upgrading et cetera from the server. The terms "Current Competitions" and "Tournaments" may be merged into one term "Tournaments". The tournament may be described as a competition with more than ten participants that runs for more than one round with elimination of some of the contestants between the rounds. An additional term "Satellite Tournament (s) " may also be introduced. A "Satellite" may be a tournament that for a lower fee leads one or several winners to a Tournament with a larger starting fee. The "Satellite" can be arranged either immediately before the Tournament, or before the Tournament with a small or large time gap in between. The term "Placement Points" may be been abandoned. Instead, the terms "QP Dollars" or "QP$" may be used. QP$ may be a "currency" that is only used within the QP system. The terms can be used in at least two ways including to pay for game participation or to buy merchandise in a future QP Shop. Instead of "Placement Points" the players may earn QP$ as a result of their efforts in a Game Room. The better the players score the more QP$ are earned.

While the present invention has been described in accordance with preferred compositions and embodiments, it is to be understood that certain substitutions and alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. A method of playing an interactive game, comprising: providing a television program (202) organized by an organizer

(240), the program (202) having a view (200) and participating players (206-224) and a viewer (230) with a telephone device (232); displaying a question (234) , multiple-choice answers (236a- 236d) and a telephone number (244) on the view (200) ; the players (206-224) selecting one of the multiple-choice answers (236a-236d) ; the viewer (230) digitally selecting one of the multiple- choice answers (236a-236d) and calling the telephone number (244) with the telephone device (232) ; the viewer paying a fee (254) for sending a response signal (238) including the selected answers (236a-236d) to the organizer (240) ; and displaying a correct answer (235) to the question (234) .

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises the viewer (230) selecting the multiple- choice answer (236a-236d) while the telephone device (232) is disconnected from the organizer (240) .

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises the viewer (230) and the players (206-224) responding to the same question (234) .

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises the viewer (230) including a letter string (252) in the response signal (238) .

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the method further comprises associating the letter string (252) with the multiple-choice answers (236a-236d) .

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises preventing the viewer (230) from seeing the correct answer (235) before the response signal (238) is sent.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises the viewer (230) winning a prize pot (266) by providing correct answers (235) , the prize pot (266) including fees (254) paid by other viewers (230).

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises the organizer (240) sending a notification message

(260) to the telephone device (232) of the winning viewer

(230) .

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises providing the notification message (260) with a voucher number (262) .

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises sending the response signal (238) as an SMS message with a mobile telephone (232) .