Video game system having a control unit with an accelerometer for controlling a video game

A method of making a video game system comprising the steps of:

• providing a game controller,
• providing a hand-held control unit coupled to the game controller,
• housing an accelerometer in the control unit, the accelerometer being adapted to sense tilt of the control unit with respect to an axis, the accelerometer being adapted to produce an acceleration signal to the game controller indicating the tilt of the control unit with resect to the axis, the game controller processing the acceleration signal to control the movement of a game character on a video display coupled to the game controller and further processing the acceleration signal to control directional navigation of the game character through a game environment, said navigation corresponding to the tilt of the hand-held control unit,
• housing a light sensor in the control unit, the light sensor being adapted to receive one or more light pixels from a video display coupled to the game controller and to produce a detection signal to the game controller, the game controller determining from the detection signal the light pixels from the video display detected by the light sensor;
• and
• configuring the game controller to determine from the detection signal where the control unit is aimed at on the video display.

A method of controlling a character in a video game system, the system including a game controller, a hand-held control unit, and a video display, the game controller being coupled to the control unit and the video display, the control unit containing an accelerometer and a light sensor, the accelerometer sensing tilt of the control unit with respect to an axis, the light sensor being housed in the control unit, the method comprising the steps of:

• using the accelerometer in the control unit to produce an acceleration signal indicating the tilt of the control unit with respect to the axis;
• transmitting the acceleration signal to the game controller;
• processing the acceleration signal with the game controller to control directional navigation of the game character through a game environment, said navigation corresponding to the tilt of the hand-held control unit;
• using the light sensor in the control unit to detect one or more light pixels from the video display and thereby produce a detection signal corresponding to a direction in which the control unit is pointing;
• transmitting the detection signal to the game controller;
• determining from the detection signal the light pixels detected from the video display by the light sensor;
• and
• determining whether a target on the video display has been hit.