Method and system of controlling computer system external effects

A processor-based method comprising:

• associating occurrence of a game event with the change of state of one or more of a plurality of external effects, the associating by a player of a game in which the game even occurs;
• and
• interacting with the game to trigger the software event, the software event being one or more selected from the group consisting of:
• opponent kill event;
• game milestone change;
• character health change;
• remaining lives change;
• character heart rate change;
• and win/lose event;
• and
• changing operational state of one or more of the plurality of external effects upon occurrence of the game event.

A computer-readable media storing an application program interface program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

• access a data table where a computer system user has previously correlated desired actions and occurrence of game software events;
• communicate with an external effects controller;
• and
• drive output signals to external effects devices being purely aesthetic devices or non-aesthetic devices operated in a manner for aesthetic reasons based on desired actions from the data table and occurrence of the game software events.

A computer system comprising:

• a processor configured to execute gaming software, and the processor further configured to accept from a game player an association of game events to external effects;
• an external effects controller coupled to the processor;
• and
• an external effect coupled to the external effects controller;
• wherein the external effects controller is configured to, upon occurrence of the game events, change an operational state of the external effect in conformance with the association of game events to external effects.