Content playback program and content playback device

Abstract

Provided is a content playback program and a content playback device, which can select a user's "favorite character" as an application launcher icon according to the progress status of the user's game. The user selects a single character as a favorite character from characters whose respective acquired flags and icon setting flags are both set to logical "true", thereby making it possible to set the icon of the favorite character as a game application launcher icon on a menu screen displayed by an application startup processing unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a content playback program and a content playback device. Background Art

[0002] The applicant develops and distributes game programs and game services. In recent years, the demand for game programs or game services for smartphones has grown more than the demand for game programs for dedicated game consoles.

[0003] In particular, many game service providers including the applicant provide online game services in which a smartphone is connected to a game server that provides game contents through the Internet and receives various game contents via the game server.

[0004] One aspect of such a game is a content playback service with a complex content playback function obtained by integrating not only action game elements (in which game characters (hereinafter referred to as "characters") move according to user operations) but also novel game characters (in which the story progresses when the characters engage in dialogue) with functional elements such as animation videos or web browsers.

[0005] Various types of ingenuity are used in many online game services to keep providing services to many users for as long as possible. For example, the rate determination control of the game progress is performed so that the growth rate of the characters in the game content is deliberately slowed down. In addition, the characters in the game content are represented by beautiful and lovely illustrations, or the stories that make the characters attractive are novelized or animated. In addition, the voices of popular voice actors are often added to these characters, thereby providing many attractive characters.

[0006] In particular, illustrations and lines spoken by popular voice actors are added to characters in games that are fictional characters, and these characters are attractively portrayed through novelization or animation, etc., thereby causing users to feel a strong liking for the characters (moe). This is generally called "character moe".

[0007] In addition, a particular character that a user expresses a particular liking for is often referred to as a "favorite character". In particular, this concept of "favorite character" becomes a very important selling point in online gaming services for determining how to attract many users. In addition, "favorite character" is also an important concept in the present invention.

[0008] Patent document 1 discloses an amusement game machine (lottery machine) in which, when a player obtains valuable information, the player can feel a sense of achievement, a sense of competence, etc., thereby enhancing the fun. Note that Patent document 1 discloses a technology for displaying an icon of a "favorite character" selected by a user on a playback screen.

[0009] Prior art literature

[0010] Patent Literature

[0011] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-99362 Summary of the invention

[0012] Problem that the invention aims to solve

[0013] Today's smartphones have become common as high-performance information terminals with computing power and high-resolution display equivalent to those of personal computers. Smartphones can be used not only as mobile phones, but also various applications for web browsing, video playback players, music players, digital cameras, translations, train route guides, map navigation, business software, health care, and games can be executed through the smartphones.

[0014] In order to manage various applications and to enable users to quickly execute desired applications, an application called a home application, a desktop application or an application launcher is installed in a smart phone. Hereinafter, such an application is referred to as a "home application" in this specification.

[0015] The main application displays each application program with an icon and an abbreviated name of the application program on the touch screen display. That is, the main application is an application program for executing each application program in response to a tap operation on the icon of the application program.

[0016] Many of the applications to be installed in the smartphone are subject to a predetermined review by the company providing the OS and are registered in an online store operated by the company providing the OS. At this time, registration of only one type of image file for each icon is permitted.

[0017] In recent years, after iOS (registered trademark) version 10.3 provided by Apple Computer, Inc. of the United States, a function is provided for enabling a user to select a favorite icon from a plurality of icons pre-examined by an online store at any time and change the icon to the selected icon. That is, the application can provide a plurality of icons to the user.

[0018] If this feature can be organically linked to the user's "favorite characters", it seems that it can further enhance the charm of the game.

[0019] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content playback program and a content playback device which can select a user's "favorite character" as an application launcher icon according to the progress status of the user's game.

[0020] Solutions for solving problems

[0021] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a content replay program, which is implemented in a computer for implementing a content replay device, and the content replay device has: a display unit; an operation unit; a role data master file, which describes the correspondence between role IDs that uniquely identify multiple roles and the file names of icon image files that show icon images linked to the roles with the role IDs; a role flag table, which describes the correspondence between the role IDs, an acquired flag, an icon setting flag, and an icon designation flag, the acquired flag indicating whether the user has acquired the role with the role ID, the icon setting flag indicating whether the role with the role ID can be set as an icon of an application, and the icon designation flag indicating whether the role with the role ID has been designated as an icon of an application; and an application icon table, which describes the correspondence between information that uniquely points to an application and an icon file name indicating the file name of an icon image pointing to the application.

[0022] The content replay program of the present invention provides: an icon candidate display processing function, which is used to refer to the role flag table and display the icon image file linked to the role ID whose value of the icon setting flag is set to logical true on the display unit; an icon selection processing function, which is used to set the value of the icon designation flag linked to the role ID selected by the user in the role flag table to logical true in response to the fact that the user selects one of the multiple icon images displayed on the display unit via the operation unit; an icon change processing function, which is used to register the icon image file linked to the role ID selected by the user in the role data master file to the icon file name obtained from the application icon table in response to the call of the icon selection processing function; and an application startup processing function, which is used to display the icon image of the icon image file as an icon for starting the application on the display unit according to the application icon table.

[0023] Then, by executing a character acquisition event for setting the acquired flag to logical true, the acquired flags can each be set to logical true, and by executing a predetermined event for setting the icon setting flag to logical true, the icon setting flags can each be set to logical true.

[0024] Effects of the Invention

[0025] According to the present invention, the user's "favorite character" can be selected as the application launcher icon according to the progress status of the user's game.

[0026] Problems, configurations, and advantageous effects other than those described above will be apparent from the following description of the embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 is a diagram generally showing a content playback system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 2 It is a block diagram showing the hardware structure of the content playback device (smartphone).

[0029] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware structure of a game server.

[0030] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the software functionality of a game server.

[0031] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the software functions of the content playback device.

[0032] Figure 6 are diagrams showing example field configurations and records in various tables.

[0033] Figure 7 : is a flowchart showing the flow of operations performed at a game server when a user obtains a new character due to the fact that the user has completed a predetermined event in a game or purchased a specified character online.

[0034] Figure 8 : is a flowchart showing the flow of operations performed at a game server when a user obtains a new character due to the fact that the user has executed an online prize competition.

[0035] Fig. 9 : is a flowchart showing the flow of a process performed at a game server in which a predetermined character is allowed to be designated as an icon due to the fact that a user has completed certain events or performed various operations on the predetermined character.

[0036] Fig.10 This is a sequence diagram for explaining the flow of processing performed between the content playback device and the game server.

[0037] Fig.11 This is a sequence diagram for explaining the flow of processing performed in the content playback device in which a user selects an icon to be changed.

[0038] Fig.12 An example of an icon selection screen in a content playback device is shown.

[0039] FIG. 13 shows example screens displayed on the touch screen display by the application startup processing unit before and after executing the icon change process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] [Content playback system: overall structure]

[0041] Figure 1 is a diagram generally showing a content playback system 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] The smartphone loads a game program to function as the content playback device 102. The user operates the touch screen display 102a of the content playback device 102 to play the game.

[0043] like Figure 1 As shown, the content playback device 102 downloads the game program from the game server 103 via the Internet 104 via a base station 105 or a wireless LAN router 106 that performs wide area wireless communication, and executes the game program.

[0044] The service provided to the user by the content playback system 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention is game content, and the game content is an online game service in which a plurality of characters appear in a game virtual world.

[0045] [Content playback device 102: hardware structure]

[0046] Figure 2 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the content playback device 102 (smartphone).

[0047] The content playback device 102, which is a well-known computer, includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, a display unit 204, an operation unit 205, a wide area wireless communication unit 206, a wireless LAN interface 207, and a nonvolatile memory 208 connected to a bus 209. The display unit 204 is composed of an LCD or the like, and the operation unit 205 is composed of an electrostatic touch screen or the like.

[0048] The content playback device 102 communicates with the game server 103 via the wide area wireless communication unit 206 or the wireless LAN interface 207 to transmit and receive information required for the online game service to and from the game server 103 .

[0049] [Game Server 103: Hardware Structure]

[0050] Figure 3 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware structure of the game server 103.

[0051] The game server 103 , which is a well-known computer, includes a CPU 301 , a ROM 302 , a RAM 303 , a network interface card (NIC) 306 , and a nonvolatile memory 308 connected to a bus 309 .

[0052] Note that in the game server 103, the display unit 304 and the operation unit 305 are not always necessary and are therefore shown by dotted lines.

[0053] [Game Server 103: Software Function]

[0054] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the software functions of the game server 103.

[0055] Various requests from the content playback device 102 are sent to the user authentication processing unit 402, the game content operation processing unit 403, and the situation operation processing unit 404 via the input / output control unit 401. Here, the input / output control unit 401 functions as a web server program.

[0056] The user authentication processing unit 402 verifies whether the content playback device 102 that has accessed the game server is a legitimate user by referring to a user master 405 .

[0057] If the user authentication processing unit 402 confirms that the content playback device 102 accessing the game server is a legitimate user, the game content calculation processing unit 403 and the status calculation processing unit 404 process these requests.

[0058] The game content calculation processing unit 403 performs calculation processing related to the game content. For example, the game content calculation processing unit 403 transmits and receives battlefield position information indicating the positions of multiple users on the battlefield and event information related to various actions.

[0059] The situation operation processing unit 404 receives event information sent from the content playback device 102 when the game content ends or when an item is obtained or discarded, and calculates the event information by applying a predetermined operation process to the event information. Then, the situation operation processing unit 404 additionally records and / or updates the event information in the situation table 406, and then sends the situation information back to the content playback device 102.

[0060] [Content playback device 102: software functions]

[0061] Figure 5 2 is a block diagram showing the software functions of the content playback device 102 .

[0062] The input / output control unit 501 functions as an OS, interprets operation information obtained at the operation unit 205, and passes the operation information to the content playback processing unit 502 as necessary.

[0063] Furthermore, the input / output control unit 501 transfers the screen display data output from the content playback processing unit 502 to the display unit 204 .

[0064] The input / output control unit 501 includes an icon change processing unit 503 that implements an icon change processing function. When receiving an icon change request from another application, the icon change processing unit 503 enters required items in the application icon table 504. The application icon table 504 corresponds to "info.plist" in iOS (registered trademark), for example.

[0065] The content playback processing unit 502 is the main body of the game program.

[0066] The content playback processing unit 502 includes a game content execution processing unit 505 and an icon selection processing unit 506 that implements an icon selection processing function. The icon selection processing unit 506 includes an icon candidate display processing unit 507 that implements an icon candidate display processing function.

[0067] The game content execution processing unit 505 performs display and playback of various contents according to user operations, etc. That is, the game content execution processing unit 505 performs: display and action control of game characters based on scenario data, etc.; display of image files; playback of motion image files; playback of sound files; display of text data; etc.

[0068] Furthermore, the content playback processing unit 502 transmits event information generated by playback of game content or the like to the game server 103 , receives status information from the game server 103 , and records the status information in the game database 508 .

[0069] The icon selection processing unit 506 dialogues with the icon change processing unit 503 of the input / output control unit 501 based on the icon designation request sent by the user via the operation unit 205. Then, the icon selection processing unit 506 performs processing for setting a specific icon image file name included in the icon image file group 509 for the icon of the content playback processing unit 502.

[0070] Note that if the processing of the icon selection processing unit 506 has never been performed, a default icon image file 510 is set for the icon of the content playback processing unit 502 .

[0071] The application startup processing unit 511 is a main application that has an application startup processing function and implements a process of starting an application program. The application startup processing unit 511 displays the application program as an icon on the display unit 204. Then, in response to a tap operation on the icon, the application startup processing unit 511 executes the corresponding application program. Note that when executing the corresponding application program, the application startup processing unit 511 refers to the application icon table 504 and the application menu table 512.

[0072] The application start processing unit 511 includes an application icon display processing unit 513. The application icon display processing unit 513 reads the application menu table 512 and displays the application program on the display unit 204 using an icon.

[0073] Figure 6 are diagrams showing example field configurations and records in various tables.

[0074] The game database 508 into which information is written / read by the content playback processing unit 502 includes a character master 601 , a character data master 602 , a character parameter table 603 , and a character flag table 604 .

[0075] The role master file 601 has a role ID field and a role name field. The role ID field stores a role ID that uniquely identifies a role, and the role name field stores a role name.

[0076] The role data master file 602 has a role ID field, a data type field, and a data file name field.

[0077] The role ID field is the same as the role ID field in the role master file 601.

[0078] The data file name field stores the file names of various data files.

[0079] The data type field stores information indicating the type of the file corresponding to the file name stored in the data file name field. Figure 6 In order to facilitate understanding, the file type is written as a word name, but in fact, a file type ID that ensures the uniqueness of the file type is stored.

[0080] The value in the data type field corresponds to the field name in the table. Among the values ​​in the data type field, the data type "icon image" is directly related to the present invention.

[0081] Therefore, it can be interpreted that the value "icon-image" in the data type field is equivalent to the icon-image field.

[0082] For example, in Figure 6It can be interpreted that in the record of the value "icon image" in the data type field, the value stored in the data file name field (data file name) is the value in the icon image field, that is, "0001icon.png".

[0083] The role parameter table 603 has a role ID field, a parameter type field, and a parameter value field.

[0084] The role ID field is the same as the role ID field in the role master file 601.

[0085] The parameter value field stores the parameter values ​​of the following parameter types.

[0086] The parameter type field stores information (parameter type) indicating the type of the parameter value stored in the parameter value field. Figure 6 In order to make it easier to understand, the type of the parameter value is written as a word name, but in fact, the parameter type ID is stored to ensure the uniqueness of the parameter type.

[0087] The values ​​in the parameter type field correspond to the field names in the table. Therefore, it can be interpreted that the value "LEVEL" in the parameter type field is the LEVEL field. Then, it can be interpreted that in the record with the value "LEVEL" in the parameter type field, the value stored in the parameter value field (parameter value) is the value in the LEVEL field.

[0088] The role flag table 604 has a role ID field, a flag type field, and a flag value field.

[0089] The role ID field is the same as the role ID field in the role master file 601.

[0090] The flag value field stores "true" or "false" as the flag value in the flag type.

[0091] The flag type field stores information (flag type) indicating the type of flag value stored in the flag value field. Figure 6 In order to facilitate understanding, the type of the flag value is written as a word name, but the flag type ID that ensures the uniqueness of the flag type is actually stored.

[0092] Among the values ​​in the flag type field, the flag types "obtained", "icon setting", and "icon designation" are directly related to the present invention.

[0093] The acquired flag as the first flag is a flag indicating whether the user has acquired the corresponding character. Examples of means by which the user acquires a character include, for example, the condition that a specific event in the game content has ended normally, the condition that a new character has been acquired due to an online prize contest ("gacha (registered trademark)"), and the condition that a desired character has been purchased online. All of these conditions can be represented as a character acquisition event for setting the acquired flag to logical "true".

[0094] exist Figure 6 , the user has obtained the roles corresponding to role IDs "0001" and "0004" (because the corresponding obtained flags are set to "true"), and the user has not obtained the role corresponding to role ID "0002" (because the corresponding obtained flag is set to "false").

[0095] The icon setting flag as the second flag is a flag indicating whether the corresponding character can be set as an icon. Examples of means by which the user can set the character as an icon include, for example, the condition that the user normally ends a specific event in the game content, the condition that the predetermined status value reaches a predetermined threshold or a greater value due to the item given by the user to the corresponding character, and the condition that the character whose icon setting flag has been pre-set to logical true is obtained through an online prize competition or online purchase. All of these conditions can be expressed as a predetermined event for setting the icon setting flag to logical "true".

[0096] Note that the acquired flag being set to logical "true" is a prerequisite for setting the icon set flag to logical "true".

[0097] exist Figure 6 , for the character ID "0001", the ability node 01 flag is set to "true", and the ability node 02 flag is set to "false". Therefore, the game server 103 determines that the icon setting cannot be performed, and thus sets the icon setting flag to "false".

[0098] On the other hand, for the character ID "0004", both the ability node 01 flag and the ability node 02 flag are set to "true". Therefore, the game server 103 determines that the icon setting can be performed, and thus sets the icon setting flag to "true".

[0099] The icon designation flag as the third flag is a flag indicating whether the character of the corresponding character ID is designated as an icon. Therefore, the acquired flag and the icon setting flag being set to "true" is a prerequisite for setting the icon designation flag to "true".

[0100] exist Figure 6In the example, only the icon setting flag of the role ID "0004" is set to "true", and in response to this, the icon designation flag is also set to "true". Although it is not shown in the figure due to limited space, Figure 6 , but there are a plurality of records of role IDs for each of which, although the icon setting flag is set to “true”, the icon designation flag is set to “false”.

[0101] As described above, only after both the first flag and the second flag for a certain role are set to logical "true", the third flag for the role can be set to logical "true".

[0102] The value in the flag type field corresponds to the field name in the table. Therefore, it can be interpreted that the value "obtained" in the flag type field is the obtained flag field. Then, it can be interpreted that in each record with the value "obtained" in the flag type field, the value (flag value) stored in the flag value field is the value in the obtained flag field.

[0103] It can be interpreted that the value "icon setting" in the flag type field is the icon setting flag field. Then, it can be interpreted that in each record of the value "icon setting" in the flag type field, the value (flag value) stored in the flag value field is the value in the icon setting flag field.

[0104] It can be interpreted that the value "icon designation" in the flag type field is the icon designation flag field. Then, it can be interpreted that in each record of the value "icon designation" in the flag type field, the value (flag value) stored in the flag value field is the value in the icon designation flag field.

[0105] The application icon table 504 has an application name field, an icon type field, and an icon file name field.

[0106] The Application Name field stores the name of the application.

[0107] The icon type field stores a flag indicating whether the icon of the application program is default or changed by the user via the application.

[0108] If the user changes the icon of the application program via the application, the icon file name field stores the icon image file name.

[0109] The application menu table 512 has an application name field, an application category field, and an icon position field.

[0110] The application name field is the same as the application name field in the application icon table 504 .

[0111] The application category field stores a category or page number or the like for organizing application icons in the application startup processing unit 511 .

[0112] The icon position field stores the position of the icon image displayed on the display unit 204 .

[0113] Figure 7 1 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations performed at the game server 103 when a user obtains a new character due to the fact that the user has completed a predetermined event in the game or purchased a designated character online.

[0114] When the process starts (S701), the situation operation processing unit 404 of the game server 103 issues a designated role ID related to the event or online purchase, and registers the designated role ID in the situation table 406 (S702). Then, the situation operation processing unit 404 transfers the situation information registered in the situation table 406 to the input / output control unit 501. In order to transmit the received situation information to the content playback device 102, the input / output control unit 501 registers the situation information in a transmission queue (not shown) (S703), and ends this series of processing steps (S704).

[0115] Figure 8 1 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations performed at the game server 103 when a user obtains a new character due to the fact that the user has executed an online bonus competition.

[0116] When the process starts ( S801 ), the game content operation processing unit 403 of the game server 103 randomly generates a character ID based on a probability of a prize contest (not shown) specified in advance ( S802 ).

[0117] Next, the situation calculation processing unit 404 checks whether the character ID generated by the game content calculation processing unit 403 is a new character for the user of the user ID (S803).

[0118] In step S803, when it is confirmed that the character ID generated by the game content calculation processing unit 403 is a new character ID for the user of the user ID ("Yes" in S803), the status calculation processing unit 404 issues the character ID and registers it in the status table 406 (S804).

[0119] On the other hand, in step S803, when it is confirmed that the character generated by the game content operation processing unit 403 is not a new character ID ("No" in S803), the status operation processing unit 404 issues item information related to the item serving as a substitute prize and registers the item information in the status table 406 (S805).

[0120] In any case, the status information registered in the status table 406 is delivered to the input / output control unit 501. Then, the input / output control unit 501 registers the received status information in a transmission queue (not shown) for transmitting the status information to the content playback device 102 (S806), and ends this series of processing steps (S807).

[0121] Fig. 9 1 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed at the game server 103 when designation of a predetermined character as an icon is permitted due to the fact that the user has completed some events or performed various operations on the predetermined character.

[0122] When the process starts (S901), the situation calculation processing unit 404 of the game server 103 calculates situation information based on the event information received from the content playback device 102 (S902).

[0123] Next, the situation calculation processing unit 404 checks whether a character that can be registered as an icon has newly appeared as a result of the calculation processing ( S903 ).

[0124] In step S903, when it is confirmed that a new character that meets the conditions for being registered as an icon has appeared ("Yes" in S903), the status operation processing unit 404 issues "Icon Setting Flag = True" for the character ID and registers "Icon Setting Flag = True" in the status table 406 (S904).

[0125] Next, the status operation processing unit 404 transfers the status information registered in the status table 406 to the input / output control unit 501. Then, the input / output control unit 501 registers the received status information in a transmission queue (not shown) for transmitting the status information to the content playback device 102 (S905), and ends this series of processing steps (S906).

[0126] Furthermore, in step S903 , when a character that satisfies the condition that can be registered as an icon does not appear (“No” in S903 ), this series of processing steps ends without performing any operation ( S906 ).

[0127] Fig.10 It is a sequence diagram for explaining the flow of processing performed between the content playback device 102 and the game server 103.

[0128] When the game content execution processing unit 505 of the content playback device 102 performs the execution processing of the predetermined game content (S1001), the game content as the content of the game is displayed on the display unit 204 (S1002). The user views the game content displayed on the display unit 204 and performs a predetermined operation (S1003). Examples of the predetermined operation performed in step S1003 include various operations such as an operation for attacking an enemy in a battle, a prize competition execution instruction in an online prize competition, and an item input operation for increasing a character level.

[0129] When information related to such operation is sent to the game content execution processing unit 505, the game content execution processing unit 505 generates or updates event information (S1004). Then, the game content execution processing unit 505 sends the event information to the game server 103 (S1005).

[0130] When receiving the event information from the content playback device 102, the game server 103 performs status calculation processing and updates the status table 406 (S1006). Then, the game server 103 transmits status information on parameters, flags, etc. of the user's character to the content playback device 102 (S1007).

[0131] When receiving the situation information from the game server 103, the game content execution processing unit 505 of the content playback device 102 registers the situation information in the game database 508 (S1008).

[0132] Fig.11 1 is a sequence diagram for explaining the flow of processing performed in the content playback device 102 in which a user selects an icon to be changed.

[0133] In a state where game content is displayed on the display unit 204 ( S1101 ), when the user performs an operation for calling an icon change menu ( S1102 ), the content playback processing unit 502 activates the icon selection processing unit 506 .

[0134] Then, the icon selection processing unit 506 generates an icon change menu (S1103), and displays the icon change menu on the display unit 204 (S1104).

[0135] Next, when the user performs an operation for selecting a character that seems to be the favorite character from the selectable characters (S1105), the icon selection processing unit 506 generates a dialog box for confirming the icon change (S1106). Then, the icon change confirmation dialog box including a "yes" button and a "no" button indicating whether to confirm the icon change is displayed on the display unit 204 (S1107).

[0136] If the user selects the "No" button for not changing the icon (S1108), the flow returns to the icon change menu screen in step S1102 again.

[0137] If the user selects the "Yes" button for changing the icon (S1109), in response to the instruction, the icon selection processing unit 506 sends the instruction for icon change together with the icon file name to the icon change processing unit 503 in the input / output control unit 501 (S1110). Then, the icon change processing unit 503 writes the icon file name to the application icon table 504 (S1111), and displays the following message dialog box on the display unit 204 (S1112), which indicates the completion of the icon change and includes an "OK" button for dismissing the message dialog box.

[0138] Next, when the user performs an operation for dismissing the message by tapping the “OK” button in the message dialog box ( S1113 ), the icon change processing unit 503 dismisses the message dialog box displayed on the display unit 204 ( S1114 , S1115 ).

[0139] Through the above-described processing, the icon change processing is completed.

[0140] Fig.12 An example of an icon selection screen in the content playback device 102 is shown.

[0141] exist Fig.12 In the example, a first character C1201, a second character C1202, and a third character C1203 are displayed on the touch screen display 102a.

[0142] Since the first character C1201 and the second character C1202 are characters whose respective icon setting flags are set to logical "true", the character display windows A1204 and A1205 are brightly displayed. Then, the first character C1201 and the second character C1202 can be selected as icon setting characters.

[0143] In contrast, the third character C1203 is a character whose icon setting flag is set to logical “false.” Therefore, the character display window A1206 is grayed out to indicate that the third character C1203 cannot be selected as an icon setting character.

[0144] Furthermore, in another example, a method (not shown) of not displaying a character whose icon setting flag is set to "false" in the icon selection screen may also be adopted.

[0145] Fig.13A An example screen displayed by the application start processing unit 511 on the touch screen display 102a before executing the icon change process is shown.

[0146] Fig. 13B An example screen displayed by the application start processing unit 511 on the touch screen display 102a after executing the icon change process is shown.

[0147] Fig. 13B A state is shown in which the user has changed the first character C1201 which is the default icon of the content playback processing unit 502 to the second character C1202 which is the user's favorite character.

[0148] In the content playback device 102 and the content playback system 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention, although the description is given of an example case of using a smart phone, the device that can perform the present invention is not limited to the smart phone. The present invention can also be performed in a digital device (such as a handheld game console, a personal computer, etc.) to which an audio playback device can be connected.

[0149] In the above-described embodiment, although the content playback system 101 composed of the content playback device 102 and the game server 103 is exemplified, the present invention can be executed in a stand-alone game that does not have the game server 103 .

[0150] Specifically, the game content calculation processing unit 403, the status calculation processing unit 404 and the status table 406 implemented in the game server 103 need to be implemented in the content playback device 102. In this case, since it is a stand-alone type, the user authentication performed by the user authentication processing unit 402 and the user master file 405 is not required.

[0151] In the embodiment of the present invention, a content playback device 102, a content playback system 101, and a content playback program for implementing the content playback device are disclosed.

[0152] The user selects a single character as the favorite character from the characters whose respective acquired flags and icon setting flags are both set to logical true, whereby the icon of the favorite character can be set as the game application launcher icon on the menu screen displayed by the application start processing unit 511. Through this processing, a character for which the user has a strong feeling can be set as the game application launcher icon according to the progress status of the game, whereby it can be expected that the user's favorability toward the game will be greatly improved.

[0153] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and also includes other modifications and applications without departing from the gist of the present invention described in the claims.

[0154] Description of Reference Numerals

[0155] 101…content playback system, 102…content playback device, 102a…touch screen display, 103…game server, 104…Internet, 105…base station, 106…wireless LAN router, 201…CPU, 202…ROM, 203…RAM, 204…display unit, 205…operation unit, 206…wide area wireless communication unit, 207…wireless LAN interface, 208…non-volatile memory, 209…bus, 301…CPU, 302…ROM, 303…RAM, 304…display unit, 305…operation unit, 306…NIC, 308…non-volatile memory, 309…bus, 401…input / output control unit, 402…user authentication processing unit Yuan, 403...game content calculation processing unit, 404...status calculation processing unit, 405...user main file, 406...status table, 501...input / output control unit, 502...content playback processing unit, 503...icon change processing unit, 504...application icon table, 505...game content execution processing unit, 506...icon selection processing unit, 507...icon candidate display processing unit, 508...game database, 509...icon image file group, 510...default icon image file, 511...application startup processing unit, 512...application menu table, 513...application icon display processing unit, 601...character main file, 602...character data main file, 603...character parameter table, 604...character logo table.

Claims

1. A content playback program, which enables a computer for implementing a content playback device to implement the following functions, wherein the content playback device has: Display unit; Operation unit; a character data master file describing a correspondence relationship between character IDs that uniquely identify a plurality of characters and file names of icon image files showing icon images linked to the characters with the character IDs; a role flag table describing the correspondence between the role ID, an acquired flag, an icon setting flag and an icon designation flag, wherein the acquired flag indicates whether the user has acquired the role of the role ID, the icon setting flag indicates whether the role of the role ID can be set as an icon of an application, and the icon designation flag indicates whether the role of the role ID has been designated as an icon of an application; as well as an application icon table describing a correspondence between information uniquely pointing to an application and an icon file name indicating a file name of an icon image pointing to the application, Among them, the functions include: an icon candidate display processing function for referring to the role flag table and displaying, on the display unit, an icon image file linked to the role ID for which the value of the icon setting flag is set to logical true; an icon selection processing function for setting the value of the icon designation flag linked to the role ID selected by the user in the role flag table to logical true in response to the fact that the user selects one of the plurality of icon images displayed on the display unit via the operation unit; an icon change processing function for registering the icon image file linked to the character ID selected by the user in the character data master file with the icon file name obtained from the application icon table in response to the calling of the icon selection processing function; and an application startup processing function, for displaying the icon image of the icon image file as an icon for starting the application program on the display unit according to the application icon table, wherein the acquired flags can each be set to logical true by executing a character acquisition event for setting the acquired flags to logical true, and Wherein, each of the icon setting flags can be set to logical true by executing a predetermined event for setting the icon setting flag to logical true.

2. The content playback program according to claim 1, in, The role data master file has: A role ID field storing a role ID for uniquely identifying a plurality of roles; and an icon image field storing a file name of an icon image file showing an icon image linked to a character with the character ID, Wherein, the role flag table has: The role ID field; An acquired flag field storing an acquired flag indicating whether the user has acquired the role of the role ID; An icon setting flag field storing an icon setting flag indicating whether the role of the role ID can be set as the icon of the application; an icon designation flag field storing an icon designation flag indicating whether the character of the character ID has been designated as an icon of an application; and an acquired flag field storing an acquired flag indicating whether the role has been acquired, and The application icon table includes: An Application Name field, which stores the application program; and An Icon File Name field stores the file name pointing to the application's icon image.

3. A content playback device, comprising: Display unit; Operation unit; a character data master file describing a correspondence relationship between character IDs that uniquely identify a plurality of characters and file names of icon image files showing icon images linked to the characters with the character IDs; a role flag table describing the correspondence between the role ID, an acquired flag, an icon setting flag and an icon designation flag, wherein the acquired flag indicates whether the user has acquired the role of the role ID, the icon setting flag indicates whether the role of the role ID can be set as an icon of an application, and the icon designation flag indicates whether the role of the role ID has been designated as an icon of an application; an application icon table describing a correspondence between information uniquely pointing to an application and an icon file name indicating a file name of an icon image pointing to the application; an icon candidate display processing unit for referring to the role flag table and displaying the icon image file linked to the role ID whose value of the icon setting flag is set to logical true on the display unit; an icon selection processing unit for setting the value of the icon designation flag linked to the role ID selected by the user in the role flag table to logical true in response to the fact that the user selects one of the plurality of icon images displayed on the display unit via the operation unit; an icon change processing unit for registering, in response to the call of the icon selection processing unit, an icon image file linked to the role ID selected by the user in the role data master file with the icon file name obtained from the application icon table; as well as an application startup processing unit, configured to display the icon image of the icon image file as an icon for starting the application program on the display unit according to the application icon table, The main character data file includes: A role ID field storing a role ID that uniquely identifies a plurality of roles; and an icon image field storing a file name of an icon image file showing an icon image linked to a character with the character ID, Wherein, the role flag table has: The role ID field; An acquired flag field storing an acquired flag indicating whether the user has acquired the role of the role ID; An icon setting flag field storing an icon setting flag indicating whether the role of the role ID can be set as the icon of the application; an icon designation flag field storing an icon designation flag indicating whether the character of the character ID has been designated as an icon of an application; and An acquired flag field, which stores an acquired flag indicating whether the role has been acquired, wherein the application icon table has: An Application Name field, which stores the application program; and The Icon File Name field stores the file name pointing to the application's icon image. wherein the acquired flags can each be set to logical true by executing a character acquisition event for setting the acquired flags to logical true, and Wherein, each of the icon setting flags can be set to logical true by executing a predetermined event for setting the icon setting flag to logical true.

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