Gaming machine and method using touch screen

An amusement machine for selectively playing a plurality of different games comprising:

• a generally upright housing having a front side and including a ledge protruding from the front side and defining a downwardly and forwardly sloping ledge surface;
• a CRT display mounted to the housing above the ledge and having a display surface;
• a touch screen applied to the CRT display so that images generated on the display surface remain visible;
• at least one push-button actuator mounted to the ledge surface, the number of push buttons being sufficient to play at least one of the plurality of different games;
• first play control means operatively coupled with the push button and the CRT display for controlling play of said at least one of a plurality of different games;
• and
• second play control means operatively coupled with the touch screen and the CRT display for controlling play of at least another one of said plurality of different games.

A method for playing a selected one of a plurality of video games playable on a video amusement machine, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a CRT display on a front side of the machine including a display surface on which images relating to a game being played can be observed;
• applying a touch screen to the display surface so that the images remain observable;
• providing a plurality of push-button actuators on the machine, the number of actuators being less than the number of actuators required for playing at least one of the games playable on the machine;
• positioning the push buttons forwardly of the front side of the machine on a surface of the machine which slopes downwardly;
• on the touch screen defining a plurality of touch fields, the plurality of touch fields being greater than the plurality of push-button actuators on the machine;
• choosing a game to be played, the choosing step comprising at least one of the steps of touching a touch field and operating a push button;
• operatively connecting at least some of the touch fields and at least some of the push buttons so that commands for a given game optionally can be generated with the touch fields and the push buttons;
• and
• playing the game, the playing step being selected from the steps of touching appropriate touch fields and operating appropriate push-button actuators.

An amusement machine for selectively playing a plurality of different games, including the game of poker, the machine comprising:

• a generally upright housing including a front side, a cut-out in an upper portion of the front side, and a ledge protruding forwardly from the front side and defining a ledge surface which is angularly inclined relative to the front side;
• a CRT display mounted to the housing so that the display is visible through the cut-out, the display including a touch screen defining a plurality of touch fields, the number of fields being sufficient for playing the game of poker and at least one other game by touching selected ones of the fields;
• a plurality of push-button actuators mounted to the ledge surface, the number of push buttons being sufficient so that the game of poker can be played with the push buttons;
• and
• processing means operatively coupled with the touch screen, the push buttons and the CRT display for executing play commands optionally generated by touching touch fields or depressing the push buttons and for generating images on the CRT display representing playable game elements as a function of the touch fields which have been touched and push buttons which have been depressed.

An amusement machine comprising a housing including a front side and a cut-out in the front side;

• a CRT display mounted to the housing and viewable through the cut-out;
• a touch screen applied to the CRT display so that images generated on the display remain visible, the touch screen defining a plurality of touch fields;
• a plurality of push-button actuators mounted to the housing;
• and
• processing means operatively coupled with the touch fields, the push buttons and the CRT display for generating play commands for the game of poker and at least one other game by generating game command signals in response to touching selected ones of the touch fields or depressing selected ones of the push-button actuators and for displaying on the CRT display playable game elements in response to the touching of a touch field or the depressing of a push-button actuator, the number of push buttons and the number of touch fields being sufficient to play the game of poker with either one;
• wherein the processing means optionally permits playing the game of poker with the touch screens or the push buttons.

An amusement machine for selectivily playing a pularilty of different games, including the game of poker, the machine comprising:

• a general upright housing including a front side, a cut-out in an upper portion of the front side located for convenient viewing by a user of the machine, and a ledge protruding forwarding from the from side and defining a ledge surface which is angularly inclined relative th the front side, the ledge being positioned beneath the cut-cut and so that the user of the machine positioned in front of the machine can touch the ledge surface with his upper arms proximate his torso;
• a CRT display mounted th the housing so that the display is visible through the cut-out, the display including a touch screen defining a plurality of touch fields, the number of fields being sufficient for playing the game of poker and at least one other game by touching selected ones of the fields;
• a plurality of push-button actuators mounted to the ledge surface, the number of push buttons being sufficient so that the game of poker can be played with the push buttons;
• and
• processing means operatively coupled with the touch screen, the push buttons and the CRT display for executing play commands optionally generated by touching touch fields or depressing the push buttons and for generating images on the CRT display representing playable game elements as a function of the touch fields which have been touched and push buttons which have been depressed;
• whereby arm fatigue by the user is substantially prevented when playing a game with the push-button actuators on the ledge surface.

A machine for use by a person to electronically play a game comprising:

• a CRT display device having a display surface for images and adapted to be within reach of the person when the person plays the game;
• means for generating the images on the CRT display surface, the images representing playable game elements;
• and
• means coupled with the CRT device and the generating means for changing the images to thereby change the playable game elements, the changing means including a touch screen applied to the CRT device and at least one push-button actuator located between the touch screen and the person playing the game.

An amusement machine permitting a player to electronically play a game by touching a touch screen or operating a push-button actuator, the machine comprising:

• a housing;
• a CRT display mounted to the housing and having a display surface;
• a touch screen applied to the CRT display so that images generated on the display surface remain visible;
• at least one push-button actuator mounted on the housing so that the push-button actuator is positioned between the CRT display and the player, the number of push-button actuators being sufficient to play at least some element of the game;
• and
• play control means operatively coupled with the push-button actuators, the CRT display and the touch screen permitting the player to issue game playing commands the results of which are displayed on the display surface.

An amusement machine permitting a player to play a given one of a plurality of different games, the machine comprising:

• a housing;
• a CRT display mounted to the housing and having a display surface;
• a touch screen constructed and applied to the CRT display so that images generated on the display surface remain visible through the touch screen;
• at least one push-button actuator mounted on the housing so that the push-button actuator is positioned between the CRT display and the player, the number of push-button actuators being sufficient to play at least one of the plurality of different games;
• first play control means operatively coupled with the push-button actuator and the CRT display for controlling at least a portion of play of the at least one of the plurality of games;
• and
• second play control means operatively coupled with the touch screen and the CRT display for controlling play of at least another one of the plurality of different games.

A method enabling a player to comfortably play a selected one of a plurality of video games playable on a video amusement machine, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a CRT display including a display surface on which images relating to a game being played can be observed by the player;
• applying a touch screen to the display surface so that the images remain observable through the touch screen;
• providing at least one push-button actuator on the machine;
• positioning the push-button actuator between the CRT display and the player so that the push-button actuator is accessible to the player for playing a game therewith while limiting player fatigue;
• on the touch screen defining a plurality of touch fields;
• choosing a game to be played, the choosing step comprising at least one of the steps of touching a touch field and operating the push-button actuator;
• operatively connecting at least some of the touch fields and the at least one push-button actuator so that commands for a given game optionally can be generated with the touch fields and the push-button actuator;
• and
• playing the game, the playing step being selected from the steps of touching at least one appropriate touch field and operating the at least one push-button actuator.

A video gaming machine comprising:

• a housing;
• a plurality of game control buttons mounted on said housing;
• a plurality of machine control buttons mounted on said housing;
• control means, including a memory containing a plurality of games, responsive to said game control buttons and machine control buttons for controlling the gaming machine;
• and
• a touch screen video display operatively connected to said control means for displaying said games wherein said games include displays of game controls and machine controls for operating said games;
• wherein said control means is responsive to either one of said game buttons and said displayed game controls to control at least a first one of said games.