Gaming machine

Abstract

When symbols to be stopped on at least one inactivated line other than an activated line of pay lines make a winning combination, whether the winning combination on the inactivated line is to be reflected in a game result or not is determined by lottery. If it is determined that the winning combination on the inactivated line is to be reflected in a game result, a player is awarded in accordance with the winning combination on the inactivated line.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATION(S) [0001] This application is based upon and claims a priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-046797 filed on Feb. 23, 2004, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a gaming machine for awarding a player in accordance with a winning combination when stopping symbols belonging to all columns on a display results in a winning combination of symbols on an activated line, and also to a control method thereof. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] A slot machine, which is one of gaming machine, includes reels each having multiple kinds of symbol along the periphery and being rotated by a mechanical element. The rotation and stop of a mechanical reel is controlled by a controller such as a processor. More specifically, the controller randomly selects one game result from multiple possible g...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016] It is an object of the invention to present a gaming machine which can make a player feel as if more activated lines are provided by yielding a possibility of awarding in accordance with a winning combination on an inactivated pay line (called an inactivated line, hereinafter), and also to present a control method thereof

[0017] It is another object of the invention to present a gaming machine, which can suppress player alienation by yielding a possibility of awarding in accordance with a winning combination which can be made if symbols on an activated line are put in reverse order, and also to present a control method thereof. A symbol combination, in which symbols stopped on an activated line make a winning combination when the symbols are put in reveres order, i.e., when the symbols are seen not from left or right under normal conditions but from right or left, is hereinafter referred to as “a reverse combination”, which provides the possibility of a win.

[0020] According to the first and second aspects, whether a winning combination on an inactivated line is to be reflected in a game result or not is determined by lottery. When it is determined that the winning combination on the inactivated line is to be reflected in the game result, a player is awarded in accordance with the winning combination on the inactivated line. Thus, yielded is a possibility of awarding in accordance with a winning combination on an inactivated line. Therefore, a player may feel as if more activated lines are provided. As a result, the player may strongly get interested in the machine, and player alienation can be prevented.

[0023] According to the third and fourth aspects, when a winning combination can be made if symbols on an activated line are put in reverse order, whether the activated line is regarded as having a reverse winning combination to be reflected in a game result or not is determined by lottery. When it is determined that the activated line is regarded as having the reverse winning combination to be reflected in the game result, a player is awarded in accordance with the reverse winning combination. As a result, the player may strongly get interested in the machine, and player alienation can be prevented.

Problems solved by technology

However, while machines according to those patent documents may reasonably contribute to attract player's attention by varying the appearance of the display area, the machines still have following problems.

However, the player will notice that the pay line having the winning combination is actually not activated, resulting in no award.

As a result, though various devices have been made for the variation of the appearance of the display area, a player is no longer attracted by the machine very much, which may induce player alienation.

The problem may become more significant when only one pay line is activated at all times while other pay lines cannot be activated at player's will.

The above-described problems may highly-possibly occur in not only a mechanical reel type but also in a simulate-reel type gaming machine.

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