Electronic game providing formation changes and method

In a method of simulating a sports-action team game, the steps of:

• a. providing a housing;
• b. providing a display panel on the upper surface of said housing that provides a visual simulation of a playing field of the type on which a ball-type game is played and is adapted to display symbols in and between side and end boundary positions on said field in response to electrical signals applied thereto;
• c. providing operational-circuit means in said housing operatively connected to said display panel for generation and transmission of electrical signals to said display panel to produce offensive and defensive play symbols on said simulated playing field, one of said offensive play symbols at a time simulating the position of the ball, said operational-circuit means step including:
• (i) moving a multiplicity of said offensive play symbols, including said ball-position symbol, along said playing field, said multiplicity of offensive play symbols including a concurrently movable plurality thereof;
• (ii) moving a multiplicity of said defensive play symbols along said playing field toward said ball-position symbol, movement of said offensive and defensive play symbols providing play action simulating the action of said sports-action team game;
• (iii) detecting the coincidence of said ball-position symbol with at least a selected one of said defensive play symbols during at least a portion of a play and terminating play action upon such detection;
• and
• (iv) monitoring play action to record information concerning the status of said simulated game and for producing signals indicative of said status information, said signals conveying the recorded information to an operator of said game;
• d. providing a control board on said housing that includes a multiplicity of manually operable control elements connecting said control board to said operational-circuit means for transmission of signals thereto through operation of said control elements, effecting movement of said ball-position symbol by said offensive-play-symbol-movement means in response to operation of said control elements by an operator to effect movement of said ball-position symbol through said defensive play symbols to simulate advance of the ball, terminating play action by said detecting means upon the occurrence of said game terminating coincidence;
• e. monitoring the position of at least one of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols and assigning prohibited moves thereto based on its monitored position on said playing field;
• f. operating at least one of said manually operable control elements to transmit signals to said operational-circuit means to direct the same move to each of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols, including a prohibited move to at least one of said concurrently movable plurality;
• g. effecting all of the directed moves of said concurrently movable plurality except said at least one prohibited move, thereby changing the formation defined by the relative positions of said concurrently movable plurality;
• h. operating at least one of said manually operable control elements to transmit signals to said operational-circuit means to direct a move of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols that is not prohibited to any of them;
• and
• i. effecting said last-mentioned directed moves of all of said concurrently movable plurality, thereby maintaining the new formation resulting from said first-mentioned effected moves.

In a method of simulating a sports-action team game, the steps of:

• a. providing a housing;
• b. providing a display panel on the upper surface of said housing that provides a visual simulation of a playing field of the type on which a ball-type game is played and adapted to display symbols in and between side and end boundary positions on said field in response to electrical signals applied thereto;
• c. providing operational-circuit means in said housing operatively connected to said display panel for generation and transmission of electrical signals to said display panel to produce offensive and defensive play symbols on said simulated playing field, one of said offensive play symbols at a time simulating the position of the ball, said operational-circuit means step including:
• (i) moving a multiplicity of said offensive play symbols, including said ball-position symbol, along said playing field, said multiplicity of offensive play symbols including a concurrently movable plurality thereof;
• (ii) moving a multiplicity of said defensive play symbols along said playing field toward said ball-position symbol, movement of said offensive and defensive play symbols providing play action simulating the action of said sports-action team game;
• (iii) detecting the coincidence of said ball-position symbol with at least a selected one of said defensive play symbols during at least a portion of a play and terminating play action upon such detection;
• and
• (iv) monitoring play action to record information concerning the status of said simulated game and for producing signals indicative of said status information, said signals conveying the recorded information to an operator of said game;
• d. providing a control board on said housing that includes a multiplicity of manually operable control elements connecting said control board to said operational-circuit means for transmission of signals thereto through operation of said control elements, effecting movement of said ball-position symbol by said offensive-play-symbol-movement means in response to operation of said control elements by an operator to effect movement of said ball-position symbol through said defensive play symbols to simulate advance of the ball, terminating play action by said detecting means upon the occurrence of said game terminating coincidence;
• e. arranging said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols with at least one but not all of said concurrently movable plurality in one of said side and end boundary positions;
• f. operating at least one of said manually operable control elements to transmit signals to said operational-circuit means to direct the same move to all of said concurrently movable plurality of play symbols, said same move being in the direction of said one of said end and side boundary positions, directing at least one of said offensive play symbols to move beyond said one of said end and side boundary positions;
• g. effecting said directed move of all of said concurrently movable offensive play symbols except said at least one in said one of said side and end boundary positions, thereby changing the formation defined by the relative positions of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols to a new formation;
• h. operating at least one of said manually operable control elements to transmit signals to said operational-circuit means to direct the same move of all of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols away from said one of said side and end boundary positions;
• and
• i. effecting said last-mentioned directed moves of all of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols, thereby maintaining said new formation.

In a method of simulating a sports-action team game, the steps of:

• a. providing a housing;
• b. providing a display panel on the upper surface of said housing that provides a visual simulation of a playing field of the type on which a ball-type game is played and adapted to display symbols in and between side and end boundary positions on said field in response to electrical signals applied thereto;
• c. providing operational-circuit means in said housing operatively connected to said display panel for generation and transmission of electrical signals to said display panel to produce offensive and defensive play symbols on said simulated playing field, one of said offensive play symbols at a time simulating the position of the ball, said operational-circuit means step including:
• (i) moving a multiplicity of said offensive play symbols, including said ball-position symbol, along said playing field, said multiplicity of offensive play symbols including a concurrently movable plurality thereof and at least one independent offensive play symbol;
• (ii) moving a multiplicity of said defensive play symbols along said playing field toward said ball-position symbol, movement of said offensive and defensive play symbols providing play action simulating the action of said sports-action team game;
• (iii) detecting the coincidence of said ball-position symbol with at least a selected one of said defensive play symbols during at least a portion of a play and terminating play action upon such detection;
• and
• (iv) monitoring play action to record information concerning the status of said simulated game and for producing signals indicative of said status information, and signals conveying the recorded information to an operator of said game;
• d. providing a control board on said housing that includes a multiplicity of manually operable control elements, said control board being connected to said operational-circuit means for transmission of signals thereto through operation of said control elements, effecting movement of said ball-position symbol by said offensive-play-symbol-movement means in response to operation of said control elements by an operator to effect movement of said ball-position symbol through said defensive play symbols to simulate advance of the ball, terminating play action by said detecting means upon the occurrence of said game terminating coincidence;
• e. arranging said offensive play symbols with said independent offensive play symbols adjacent at least one of said concurrently movable offensive play symbols;
• f. operating at least one of said manually operable control elements to transmit signals to said operational-circuit means to direct the same move to all of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols, said directed moves including a move to the position of said independent offensive play symbol of said concurrently movable offensive play symbol adjacent said independent offensive play symbol;
• g. effecting said directed moves of all of said offensive play symbols except said at least one adjacent said independent offensive play symbol, thereby providing a new formation defined by the relative positions of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols;
• h. operating at least one of said manually operable control elements to transmit signals to said operational-circuit means to direct the same move of all said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols, none of said last-mentioned directed moves being to the position of said independent offensive play symbol;
• and
• i. effecting said last-mentioned directed moves of all of said concurrently movable plurality of offensive play symbols, thereby maintaining said new formation thereof.

In an electronic apparatus for simulating a sports-action team game, the combination comprising:

• a. a housing;
• b. a display panel on the upper surface of said housing providing a visual simulation of a playing field of the type on which a game between opposing teams is played, said display panel having a multiplicity of discrete visual-image-producing devices arranged along x- and y-axes of said simulated playing field and adapted to display symbols representing players of opposing teams at a multiplicity of discrete positions along said x- and y-axes on said playing field in response to electrical signals transmitted thereto;
• c. operational-circuit means in said housing operatively connected to said display panel for generation and transmission of electrical signals thereto to produce symbols of said opposing teams on said simulated playing field, at least one of said teams including at least first and second symbols;
• (i) means for moving a multiplicity of said symbols of said one team along said playing field, said multiplicity of symbols including said first and second symbols;
• (ii) means for moving a multiplicity of the symbols of the other team along said playing field toward one of said symbols of said first team, movement of said symbols of said two teams providing play action simulating the action of said sports-action team game;
• and
• (iii) means for monitoring the position of at least one of said symbols of said first team, means assigning prohibited moves thereto based on its monitored position on said playing field, and means for preventing said prohibited moves of said at least one symbol by said first team symbol movement means;
• d. a control board on said housing including a multiplicity of manually operable control elements, said control board being electrically connected to said operational-circuit means for transmission of signals to said operational-circuit means through operation of said control elements, said control elements including first and second elongated levers, respectively, associated with said first and second symbols, said levers being pivotally mounted in said control board for pivoting from rest positions in which the longitudinal axes of said levers extend generally perpendicularly to the upper surface of said housing, said pivoting being along two pivotal axes extending generally perpendicularly to the longitudinal axes of said levers, said control board further including at least three switches associated with each of said levers along said pivotal axes thereof and electrically connected to said operational-circuit means for transmission of electrical signals thereto to direct movements of said symbol associated with each of said levers, pivoting of each of said levers along one pivotal axis in first and second directions operating the associated first and second switches to direct motion of the associated symbol in first and second directions, respectively, along one axis of said simulated playing field, pivoting of each of said levers in a first direction along the second pivotal axis thereof operating the associated third switch to direct motion of the associated symbol in a first direction along the other of said axes of said playing field, each actuation of a switch causing only one step of motion of the associated symbol, each lever and its associated switches being cooperatively configured and dimensioned and each lever being pivotally mounted to permit operation of only one switch at a time by each lever.