Portal device and cooperating video game machine
AssigneeWarner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
InventorJon Burton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A portal device for a video game includes a pad with different zones that can be illuminated by selectable colors, a toy sensor (e.g., an RFID tag sensor) associated with each zone, a controller and a communications port for communicating with a video game process executing on a game machine. The colors of each zone can be configured to one or a combination of three primary colors during game play, based on the game process. The portal device reacts to placement of tagged toys on zones and the color of the zones during play and provides sensor data to the game process. The game process controls the game state in part based on data from the portal device and in part on other user input.
Claims17
A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- communicating, by at least one processor executing a video game process that manipulates an avatar in response to user input, control data with a placement portal that is communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the control data defines a selected one of distinct zone state indicators for indication by the placement portal in each of different zones thereof, wherein each of the distinct zone state indicators corresponds to a different one of controllable colors that the placement portal is configured to illuminate in each of the different zones;
- receiving, by the at least one processor, portal data from the placement portal, wherein the portal data identifies a character tag and a zone of the different zones where the character tag is located;
- activating a color-indicated function in the video game process that matches one of the controllable colors output by the placement portal corresponding to the selected one of distinct zone state indicators associated with the zone of the different zones where the character tag is located.
An apparatus for playing a computer game, comprising:
- a processor, a memory device coupled to the processor, and port for coupling a placement portal to the processor, wherein the memory device stores instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform:
- executing a video game process that manipulates an avatar in response to user input;
- communicating control data with the placement portal that is communicatively coupled to the processor via the port, wherein the control data defines a selected one of distinct zone state indicators for indication by the placement portal in each of different zones thereof, and wherein each of the distinct zone state indicators corresponds to a different one of controllable colors that the placement portal is configured to illuminate in each of the different zones;
- receiving portal data from the placement portal, wherein the portal data identifies a character tag and a zone of the different zones where the character tag is located;
- and
- activating a color-indicated function in the video game process that matches one of the controllable colors output by the placement portal corresponding to the selected one of distinct zone state indicators associated with the zone of the different zones where the character tag is located.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.