Method and apparatus for player lead tracking and playback of multi-player computer games

A lead tracking system, comprising:

• a main computing device;
• a set of remote user computing devices networked to the main computing device;
• a video control processor coupled to each of the remote user computing devices and the main computing device and configured to select an output from one of the main computing device and at least one of the remote user computing devices as an output from the video control processor;
• a contact information collection mechanism configured to collect and store contact information from users operating the remote user computing devices;
• and
• a multi-user application program comprising a start program and a main program, and configured to run on the main computing device;
• wherein the multi-user application program is configured to run the start program until each of the users operating the remote user computing devices enters contact information, and then run the main program.

A method of lead tracking, comprising the steps of:

• playing a startup video on a main video monitor;
• collecting and saving contact information from a set of users;
• and
• initiating a multi-player game between at least the set of users after collecting said contact information.

A lead tracking device, comprising:

• means for running a multi-player game;
• means for collecting user contact information from each of a set of players before allowing the players to participate in the multi-player game;
• and
• means for displaying one of an overall game output and at least one output from one of the player's perspective on a main monitor.

A method of input, tracking, and storing of player's personal and lead tracking information onto a database-ready, tab or comma-delimited file on each player CPU, comprising the steps of:

• (a) displaying a player name input and game icon selector graphical user interface screen;
• (b) creating and opening a file;
• (c) saving the player's name and selected icon in the file;
• (d) reading a current date and time from an operating system and adding this into the file;
• (e) displaying a first input form that includes contact information including at least one of address, phone, and email;
• (f) reading fields from the first input form and appending data from the fields to the data text file;
• (g) displaying a second input form which is customized based on a client's lead tracking information;
• (h) reading fields of the second form and appending them to the text file;
• and
• (i) closing and saving each data text file.

A method of game play back and interactions between a main server and player computers, comprising the steps of:

• installing a main program on a main computer and one player program on each of multiple player programs;
• looping custom animation digital video that plays on a main screen and all player screens between executions of the main program;
• retrieving icon selections and data entry, including names, from users of the player computers;
• triggering start of the main program when the game master sends a start signal;
• sending all selected player icons and names to the main computer;
• displaying all the player names and icons on large display device;
• and
• sending a game start signal to all players to start actual game play.