System for game halls

Abstract

To perform proper state management when a game machine is a management target, the game machine transmitting a signal, at a predetermined interval, indicating whether a predetermined target state is any one of ON and OFF.SOLUTION: A game machine can output a state signal, at a predetermined interval, indicating whether a target state is any one of ON and OFF states. In a state where the target state of the game machine or a game device attached to the game machine is identified as an ON state, state identification means can perform first identifying processing and second identifying processing, the first identifying processing identifying the target state as an OFF state by a state signal indicating OFF, and the second identifying processing identifying the target state as an OFF state even if the state signal indicating OFF is not received when a communication abnormality regarding the state signal occurs. Therefore, when the game machine is a management target, a proper state management can be performed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for a playground. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditionally, gaming arcades have managed various states based on game signals output from gaming machines, and most such gaming machines (hereinafter referred to as "conventional machines") output pulse signals that are output at different levels during periods corresponding to each state, as shown in Patent Document 1 (see paragraph 0025 of Patent Document 1). However, in recent years, gaming machines (hereinafter referred to as "data signals") have begun to appear that transmit data signals at specified intervals indicating whether each state is ON or OFF, such as the "jackpot (state)" shown in paragraph 0025 of Patent Document 2. In the case of such a data signal device, if the gaming machine continues to output information, the state can be identified in the same way as a conventional machine, but if the power of the gaming machine is turned off (power cut), subsequent gaming information is not transmitted, and the OFF state cannot be identified, making it impossible to identify the state in the same way as a conventional machine. In addition, the gaming information transmitted from the data signal device may be transmitted to the management device via the gaming device, but in this case, there is a risk that the OFF state cannot be identified in the same way as above even if the gaming device is powered off. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2020-69096 [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2023-49510 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The above will be explained with a concrete example. For example, if a problem occurs with a gaming machine or gaming device during a jackpot, and an employee shuts off the power to the gaming machine or gaming device to resolve the problem, in a conventional machine, the state determination is turned off because no signal is output due to the power being cut, but in the case of a data signal device, the state determination cannot be turned off because subsequent game information is not transmitted. In other words, the behavior of the state determination differs depending on whether the gaming machine is a conventional machine or a data signal device, which can cause problems such as difficulty in handling, especially in gaming facilities where both types are mixed or where customers are accustomed to conventional machines. In addition, when installing gaming machines and gaming devices, once the installation work is completed the gaming machines and gaming devices are powered off until the amusement center opens. In this case, however, the power may be turned off by opening the door to open the gaming machine. Since the power is cut off and the data signal for the subsequent door open OFF is not sent, a problem may arise in which the management device is unable to determine when the door open state has ended. Such problems are not limited to those described above, but may occur in various other situations, such as special situations and fraud, and therefore it is desirable to address these problems.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to provide an amusement park system that can appropriately manage the status when the gaming machine that is being managed is one that transmits a signal at a specified interval indicating whether a specified target state is on or off. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention is a system for an amusement facility including a gaming machine and an amusement device attached thereto, The gaming machine or the gaming device is configured to be capable of outputting a state signal indicating whether a target state of the gaming machine or the gaming device is on or off at a predetermined interval (for example, a data signal indicating the "on" or "off" of the jackpot state shown in FIG. 6 at 200 ms intervals); a state specifying means (e.g., the game device 2 or the relay device 4) for specifying the target state as an ON state when the state signal indicates that the target state is ON; a communication abnormality determination means (e.g., the relay device 4) for determining whether or not a communication abnormality (e.g., a communication failure due to a power interruption) has occurred with respect to the status signal; The state specification means, in a state in which the target state is specified as an on state (for example, a jackpot state in which the state specification of FIG. 6 is “on”), A first determination process for determining the target state as an off state when the state signal indicates that the state is off (for example, when the data signal of the jackpot state in the same figure is “off” (2), the state is determined as “off” to determine the end of the jackpot); When the communication anomaly determination means determines that a communication anomaly has occurred, the target state is identified as an off state without the state signal indicating that it is off (for example, when the power state in the same figure becomes "off" (5), the data signal for the jackpot state is not indicated as "off", and the state is identified as "off" to determine the end of the jackpot).

[0007] According to the present invention, when a target state relating to a gaming machine capable of outputting a status signal at a predetermined interval indicating whether a target state is on or off, or a gaming device attached thereto, is identified as an on state, a first identification process can be executed to identify the target state as an off state by a status signal indicating off, and a second identification process can be executed to identify the target state as an off state even if a status signal indicating off is not received when a communication abnormality occurs in the status signal, thereby making it possible to appropriately manage the status when the gaming machine is subject to management. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a game center system according to a first embodiment; [Diagram 2] Front view of the gaming machine [Diagram 3] Front view of the gaming device [Figure 4] An explanatory diagram showing spec values ​​by mode [Diagram 5] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing the difference in output and state identification between a data signal and a conventional signal. [Figure 6] A diagram showing an example of data signal output, communication status, and state identification. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is an image of a door open state shown together with a door sensor according to the second embodiment; [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the output, communication status, and state identification of a data signal in the third embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing the overall configuration of a game center system according to a fourth embodiment; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a number of embodiments embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments, substantially the same components are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. First Embodiment The first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 6. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a game arcade system. A large number of game machines 1 are installed in the game arcade, and game devices 2 on the sides and information display devices 3 above the game machines 1 are provided in one-to-one correspondence with each game machine 1.

[0010] Each gaming machine 1 is connected to a corresponding gaming device 2, and two gaming devices 2 and two information display devices 3 are connected to a relay device 4, and the relay device 4 is connected to a management device 6 via a LAN 5. The management device 6 receives game information indicating the game status of each gaming machine 1, thereby managing the game information for each gaming machine 1. In this case, the game information for each gaming machine 1 is received by the management device 6 from the gaming machine 1 via the gaming device 2 and the relay device 4 in that order. Meanwhile, various setting information for the gaming device 2 set in the management device 6 (for example, display settings of the display unit 34 in FIG. 3 described later and settings of reference values, etc.) is received by the gaming device 2 from the management device 6 via the relay device 4.

[0011] A prize exchange terminal (hereinafter referred to as POS 7) and an adjustment machine (not shown) are also installed in the game center, and the POS 7 and the adjustment machine are also connected to the management device 6 via the LAN 5. The POS 7 executes a prize exchange process based on game value such as held balls and saved balls that is specified by accepting an IC card 10 (see FIG. 3) such as a membership card 10a or a general card 10b issued by the gaming device 2. In the prize exchange process, the POS 7, for example, reads the held balls or medals acquired by the player from the general card 10b, or identifies a member from the membership card 10a and acquires online from the management device 6 the saved value (member acquired value such as saved balls and saved medals; hereinafter simply referred to as "saved balls") that the player as the member has deposited in the gaming facility, thereby specifying the game value that can be exchanged for prizes.

[0012] Although not shown in the figure, the settlement machine has a card insertion slot into which an IC card 10 is inserted, and the deposit balance (monetary value, hereinafter sometimes referred to as the balance) recorded on the IC card 10 inserted from the card insertion slot is read by a card RW, and the banknotes and coins corresponding to the read balance are returned from a return slot. The settlement machine also has a banknote insertion slot into which banknotes are inserted, and is capable of adding the inserted amount to the deposit balance recorded on the IC card 10.

[0013] The member card 10a and the general card 10b as the IC card 10 are both recording media that have an IC chip (not shown) built-in and can identify the gaming value and the balance (monetary value). Of these, the general card 10b is a general recording medium issued to an unspecified number of general players, and is distinguished from the member card 10a that is issued to members who have registered in advance.

[0014] The management device 6 is installed in, for example, an office in the gaming facility, and is connected to a keyboard 14 operated by the manager of the gaming facility, a monitor 15, a printer (not shown), etc. The management device 6 also inputs game signals output from the gaming machines (gaming machine 1, gaming device 2, etc.) to manage game information for each gaming machine 1, personal data for each member player, and the operating status of gaming machine 1, gaming device 2, etc., and also manages the operating status of each device in the gaming facility including the above-mentioned POS 7 and settlement machine.

[0015] The gaming machine 1 is an example of a so-called sealed pachinko machine. The gaming machine 1 is a management gaming machine that stores and manages the balance, held balls, and saved balls owned by the player, and supplies the internal pachinko balls to a launching device and launches them onto the board on the condition that the stored game balls remain, and when the player wins a game ball, the game ball is added to the data as the acquired ball without being paid out, and mainly manages the increase and decrease of the game balls.

[0016] In each gaming machine 1, the gaming value acquired by the player through play is the gaming balls (gaming points) that are primarily managed by the gaming machine 1 side, which is also referred to as the gaming machine value, and the balls (points) held that are primarily managed by the gaming device 2 side, which is also referred to as the device value.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 2, the gaming machine 1 has a board 1a from which pachinko balls are shot, an operating handle 16 constituting the shooting device, a balance display section 17 that displays the balance, a counting button 18 for converting game balls into held balls, and a game ball display section 19 that displays the number of game balls. The board 1a has a normal map display section 20, a normal map reserved display section 21, a special map display section 22, a normal map winning port 23, general winning ports 24, 25, a first reserved number display section 26, a second reserved number display section 27, a first start port 28, a second start port 29, and a big winning port 30. In addition, a decorative panel 31 is provided below the counting button 18 and the game ball display section 19.

[0018] The gaming machine 1 operates as follows. (1) The first starting hole 28 is a winning hole with a constant winning rate (a so-called center winning hole), and the second starting hole 29 is a winning hole with a variable winning rate (a so-called electric chute). A lottery is held for a jackpot depending on the winning (start winning) at each starting hole 28, 29, and the lottery result is notified by the pattern change (unit game) performed by the special pattern display unit 22, and a jackpot is awarded depending on the result of the change.

[0019] (2) If a start win occurs during a pattern change, the pattern changes are cumulatively reserved up to a predetermined reserved upper limit (for example, 4 each), and the reserved pattern changes will start after the pattern changes have ended. Note that if a start win occurs when the number of reserved pattern changes (reserved number) is at the upper limit, the pattern changes will not be reserved.

[0020] (3) There are six game machine settings (modes). The modes allow the winning probability of the jackpot lottery (jackpot probability) to be adjusted between the normal game state (normal state, normal) and the special probability state (special probability state, special probability) as shown in FIG. 4. The special probability rate (for example, 66%, common to all modes), which is the rate at which a jackpot will subsequently become a special probability jackpot (special probability jackpot), is also set. The jackpot probability of the normal state and special probability is set to a higher probability the higher the setting, but while the jackpot probability is unchanged depending on the mode, it is sufficient that at least one of the jackpot probability of the normal state and special probability, the special probability rate, and the round allocation rate described later can be adjusted depending on the mode so that the special probability rate can be adjusted.

[0021] (4) When a jackpot occurs, the jackpot opening 30 is opened for the corresponding round (R). The upper limit of the number of winnings in 1R is 10, and the upper limit opening period is 30 seconds. When either the upper limit of the number of winnings or the upper limit opening period is reached, 1R ends. The corresponding round is also drawn in the same way as the jackpot drawing, and the distribution rate is 10% for 2R, 50% for 8R, and 40% for 15R when the first starting hole 28 is won, but 10% for 8R and 90% for 15R when the second starting hole 29 is won, and the priority order for the reserved consumption of the pattern change according to the winning is set higher for the second starting hole 29 than for the first starting hole 28.

[0022] (5) During the probability of a jackpot, the probability of a jackpot increases and the winning rate of the second starting hole 29 increases. In addition, if a jackpot that is not a probability of a jackpot (a normal jackpot) occurs, the time-saving state (single time-saving state) that is not a probability of a jackpot occurs after the jackpot, and the time-saving state continues until the pattern changes a predetermined number of times (for example, 100 times) or a jackpot occurs, and if the pattern changes the number of times of the time-saving state without a jackpot occurring, the state returns to the normal state.

[0023] (6) When the normal pattern (normal pattern) that changes in response to the winning of the normal pattern winning port 23 becomes a winning pattern, the second starting port 29 becomes an open state with a higher winning rate than in the normal state. In this case, the period during which the normal pattern changes once is 30 seconds in the normal state and 3 seconds in the time-saving state. Also, the opening period is 0.3 seconds in the normal state and 5 seconds in the time-saving state. In other words, in the time-saving state, the normal pattern changing period is shorter than in the normal state, while the opening period is longer, making it easier to enter the open state, and the winning rate of the second starting port 29 becomes higher.

[0024] (7) Because the big prize hole 30 and the second starting hole 29 are located on the right side of the board 1a, during time-saving or big wins, players hit the right side of the board 1a, which is called a right shot. The above explanation was given using model A as an example, but the values ​​shown as examples vary depending on the model, for example, model B, which has a different round allocation, and the gameplay also differs.

[0025] The gaming machine 1 outputs the following data items as the game progresses, such as the player shooting balls and starting winning into each starting hole 28, 29. "Out" = A data item that indicates the consumed (used, entered) value (out) in units of one point since the last time data was sent. "Safe" = A data item that indicates the winning award value (safe) awarded in units of 1 point according to winning since the last time data was sent.

[0026] "S winning (number of times)" = A data item that indicates the number of initial winnings (S winnings) since the last time data was sent, one at a time. "Start (number of times)" = A data item indicating the start (number of pattern changes, number of times the device is activated, number of times the unit is played) of the device (special display unit 22) that is activated (changed) by winning the S prize since the last data transmission. It is counted at the time of confirmation, but it may also be counted at the time of start. "In operation (state)" = A data item that indicates whether the reel is on or off if the reel is not in operation, such as when the pattern is changing, at the time of data transmission. The period from when it turns on to when it turns off is specified as when the reel is in operation.

[0027] "Jackpot (number of times)" = A data item that indicates the number of jackpots that have occurred since the previous data transmission in units of one. It is counted when it occurs, but it can also be counted when it ends. "Big hit (state)" = A data item that indicates ON if a big hit state is occurring at the time of data transmission, and OFF if a big hit state is not occurring. The period from when it turns ON to when it turns OFF is specified as the big hit state (see "on" and "off" in Figure 5(a) described later).

[0028] "Sweet state (state)" = A data item that indicates that it is on if a special state (sweet state) or a jackpot state is occurring at the time of data transmission, and off otherwise. The period from when it turns on to when it turns off is identified as sweet state or jackpot. For example, if sweet state (state) is on, if the jackpot (state) is on, it is identified as a jackpot, and if it is off, it is identified as sweet state. Also, if both the jackpot (state) and sweet state (state) are off, it is identified as a normal state. Note that sweet state does not necessarily have to be on during a jackpot. Sweet state corresponds to the special states such as the time-saving and probability change mentioned above, and sweet state or jackpot corresponds to special prize state.

[0029] "Door open (state)" = When data is transmitted, if the gaming machine 1 is open, it is indicated as ON, and if it is closed, it is indicated as OFF, so the period from when it turns ON to when it turns OFF is specified as the door open. Note that the door open corresponds to the state in which the gaming machine 1 is rotated around the rotation axis (not shown) on the left end side as shown in Fig. 7, and the back side is opened, which will be described in detail in another embodiment.

[0030] The above data items are output as an identifiable data signal, such as a telegram, from the gaming machine 1 to the gaming device 2 at predetermined intervals (for example, at a predetermined period of every 200 milliseconds) as cumulative data (update data) from the previous transmission. Upon receiving the cumulative data, the gaming device 2 converts the gaming information into data and transmits it to the relay device 4. In this case, the gaming machine 1 or gaming device 2 is capable of outputting a data signal (hereinafter also referred to as a "status signal") at predetermined intervals that includes the above data items and indicates whether the target status for the gaming machine 1 or gaming device 2 is on or off, and other data items such as the number of game balls and fraud information are also output in addition to the above data items.

[0031] Furthermore, the status signal received by the gaming device 2 from the gaming machine 1 is transmitted in the same state to the relay device 4 (i.e., to the management device 6 side as a data signal indicating the same ON state or OFF state for the same target state). In this case, for the target state (for example, door open (state)), the gaming machine 1 does not output the status signal, but an associated device (for example, a door sensor 50 in FIG. 7 described later) of the gaming machine 1 is provided, so that the gaming device 2 receives the signal output from the associated device and transmits it to the management device 6 side.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 3, the gaming device 2 has a status indicator light 32 that indicates the gaming status of the gaming machine 1 and the status of the gaming device 2, a coin slot 33 into which coins (monetary value) are inserted, a touch panel type LCD display unit 34 that accepts operation inputs from the player and displays various gaming data described below, a payout button (award button) 35 that accepts a payout operation (award operation), a loan button 36 for converting the balance into gaming balls, a call button 37 for calling an employee of the gaming facility, an issue button 38 that is operated when issuing a membership card 10a or a general card 10b, a card insertion slot 39 into which the IC cards 10 are inserted, a camera 42 (only a protective cover is shown in FIG. 3) that photographs the upper body including the player's face, a remote control receiver 40a that receives signals from an employee remote control 40 (see FIG. 1) carried and operated by an employee, and a contactless mobile terminal reader 41 capable of reading a mobile ID. The mobile ID is, for example, an IDm given to an IC chip built into a FeliCa (registered trademark) mobile phone (not shown) (hereinafter referred to as a "mobile terminal"), and is a unique ID for identifying the mobile terminal.

[0033] Although detailed illustration is omitted, the gaming device 2 has, as an electrical configuration, a control unit 2a mainly composed of a microcomputer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, etc. Peripheral parts connected to the control unit 2a include the LEDs constituting the above-mentioned status indicator lamps 32, the liquid crystal display unit 34 and the touch panel 34a provided on the display unit 34, a payout button 35, a loan button 36, a call button 37, an issue button 38, and a remote control light receiving unit 40a, as well as an I / F unit (not shown) that transmits and receives various signals and various data between the management device 6 and the gaming machine 1, and a bill processing unit 33a (see the dashed leader line in FIG. 3) that determines the authenticity of bills inserted into the coin insertion slot 33.

[0034] 3 includes a card RW 39a for reading and writing various information recorded on the IC cards 10a, 10b inserted into the card insertion slot 39, and a card stock section 39b capable of stocking up to 10 general cards 10b, and these card RW 39a and card stock section 39b are also connected to the control section 2a. Note that the control section 2a (communication abnormality determination means) of the gaming device 2, which is the controlling entity, will be simply referred to as the "gaming device 2" to simplify the explanation.

[0035] The gaming device 2 operates as follows. (1) When currency is accepted (currency acceptance process), the amount of the deposit is added to the balance and displayed on both the gaming machine 1 and the gaming device 2, and when the loan button 36 is operated (loan operation, grant operation, payout operation) while there is a balance, one loan unit (e.g., 125 balls) is converted into loaned balls (loan points) as gaming balls for the gaming machine 1 (loan process, value grant process), and a value according to the gaming rate (also simply referred to as the "rate") is deducted from the balance. Note that currency can be accepted in an amount corresponding to multiple value grant processes (e.g., up to 10,000 yen).

[0036] (2) The gaming machine 1 manages gaming balls, subtracting gaming balls according to the shot (use) of balls onto the board 1a, and adding gaming balls according to winning. The gaming device 2 manages the held balls, and although the held balls cannot be used directly for playing games, it performs a granting process (replay process) that converts the held balls for one payout unit into gaming balls (conversion points) according to the operation of the payout button 35 (replay operation, grant operation). In this case, a conversion rate may be set separately (the same applies to the following counting process). Also, when the number of gaming balls has reached a reference value but the held balls remain, the replay process may be executed without the replay operation.

[0037] (3) When the number of game balls in the gaming machine 1 increases in response to play, a counting process is performed to convert the game balls into held balls in response to the operation (counting operation) of the counting button 18 of the gaming machine 1. In this case, one ball (one point) is converted for each operation, but if the operation is continued, the conversion can be made continuously and at an accelerated rate.

[0038] (4) The game balls and held balls are updated by the counting process, and when the game device 2 performs an issuance operation such as operating the issue button 38 when the balance is 0 (a state in which monetary value remains) or when held balls remain, it issues a general card 10b that can specify the balance and held balls (issuance process). In this way, the control unit 2a and the issue button 38 function as an issuing means, and perform an issuance process of a recording medium that can be associated with the balance and held balls based on the operation of the issue button 38 by the player.

[0039] (5) When the issue button 38 is operated with the general card 10b inserted in the insertion port 39, the balance and balls held are recorded and issued in the general card 10b inserted in the insertion port 39, and when the issue button 38 is operated with the general card 10b not inserted in the insertion port 39, the card 10b stocked in the card stock section 39b is advanced to the card RW 39a side, and the balance and balls held are recorded (associated) and the card 10b is advanced to the outside of the insertion port 39 and issued as a general card 10b (issue process). When the general card 10b is issued, issue information including information that can identify the own device 2 (game device ID), information that can identify the issued general card 10b (card ID), and the balance and balls held information recorded in the general card 10b are transmitted to the management device 6. Also, it is not necessary to directly record the balance or balls in the card 10b. For example, if the card ID recorded in the card 10b is used to inquire about the balance or balls in the management device 6, the information that can identify the balls in the card is the card ID, so there is no need to directly record the balance or balls in the card. In other words, any correspondence can be adopted as long as the balance or balls in the card are associated with the recording medium. It is also possible to issue a portion of the balance or balls in the card.

[0040] (6) The issuing process has an issuing condition according to the game balls in the gaming machine 1. For example, the issuing condition for the general card 10b is that when the balance does not reach a predetermined balance reference value (a reference value for determining that no monetary value remains, for example 1 yen), the retained balls reach a predetermined issuing reference value (a reference value for the number of retained balls required to perform the issuing process, for example 25 balls). For this reason, for example, when the balance is 0 and no monetary value remains, if the retained balls do not reach 25 balls, the issuing process will not be performed (is suppressed) even if an issuing operation is performed. In this case, a warning to that effect may be displayed, or the issuing process may be performed using the employee remote control 40, subject to employee authentication.

[0041] (7) The gaming information transmitted from the gaming machine 1 includes information that the gaming balls have become "0" due to use in games or counting processing, etc. (for example, numerical information on the number of gaming balls, information related to the number of gaming balls such as information indicating whether the number of gaming balls is 0 or not), which enables the gaming device 2 to determine whether the issuing conditions have been met and to identify (manage) the gaming balls and the held balls combined with the held balls. Regarding the fact that the held balls are mainly managed by the gaming device 2, it can be exemplified that the gaming device 2 can clear the held balls or make them the subject of an issuing process by command operations from the management device 6 or the employee remote control 40 or by inputting operations to the device 2 itself, but cannot clear the gaming balls or make them the subject of an issuing process.

[0042] (8) Through serial communication with the relay device 4, the management device 6 can identify various information such as the currency acceptance process, the value granting process, the balance, held balls, number of loaned balls, number of converted balls, amount of deposit, counted balls (counting points), loaned balls, sales amount that is the value of the loaned balls, and the acceptance and issuance process of held ball tickets (cards 10b). However, these may also be identified by a pulse signal (for example, 1 pulse for every 1,000 yen deposited, 1 pulse for every 100 yen sold, etc.).

[0043] (9) The remote control light receiving unit 40a receives (receives light) commands from the employee remote control 40, and executes various processes (such as clearing errors and authenticating the issuance process) according to the contents of the commands.

[0044] Now, the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment corresponds to a data signal device capable of outputting a status signal indicating a target state such as the jackpot state described above at predetermined intervals, and is distinguished from conventional machines as described in [Problem to be solved by the invention]. 5(a) and (b) are time charts showing the behavior of state determination (identification of the target state) for a data signal and a conventional signal, and how the target state is identified on the system side (e.g., relay device 4) to which the present invention is not applied will be explained together with the problems involved. Note that the circled numbers "0", "1", "2", ... in the time charts correspond to the numbers (0), (1), (2), ... in parentheses in this specification.

[0045] In addition, in the time chart of Figure 5, the target state is assumed to be a case in which a jackpot (state) that occurs at time (1) ends at time (2), and then another jackpot occurs at time (3), and then the power to the gaming machine is turned off (power is cut off at time (4)) with the jackpot still in effect. In a conventional machine (for example, a conventional payout type pachinko machine), as shown in the lower part (b) of Fig. 5, when a jackpot occurs, a pulse signal (jackpot signal) indicating the jackpot is output at a level during the period corresponding to the jackpot (from (1) to (2)). Therefore, when the power is cut off at (4), the level output ends even during the jackpot, just as when the jackpot actually ends (when the jackpot signal is off (2)), so the system determines that the jackpot has ended (the state is determined to be off in (4)).

[0046] In contrast, in the case of a data traffic signal, as shown in the upper part (a) of Fig. 5, a status signal indicating whether or not there is a jackpot (state) is output continuously at a predetermined interval. For the sake of convenience, this status signal is shown as a series of data items such as "on" and "off" in Fig. 5 (a), but in reality, since it is output at intervals (cycles) of, for example, 200 ms as described above, if there is a target state such as a jackpot, a large number of ONs are continuously lined up at that interval (over the period from (1) to (2)) during the jackpot, and if there is no jackpot, a large number of OFFs are continuously and closely lined up at that interval (over the period from (2) to (3)).

[0047] Therefore, if the status signal indicates that it is on at time (1), the system will determine that a jackpot has occurred (identify it as on in the state specification of (1)), and if it indicates that it is off at the subsequent time (2), it will determine that the jackpot has ended (identify it as off in the state specification of (2)). However, if the power is cut off at (4), the output of the status signal is interrupted and off is not indicated, so the system cannot determine that the jackpot has ended (cannot identify it as off in the state specification of (4)), and will determine that the jackpot is continuing.

[0048] In this way, the data signal device in Figure (a) and the conventional machine in Figure (b) have different ways of identifying the state related to the end of the jackpot (4). In particular, with a data signal device, the system cannot identify what the actual situation will be (because no state signal is output), which can cause problems such as it being difficult to use for employees who are accustomed to conventional machines or for employees of an amusement arcade where conventional machines are mixed. A supplementary note on the state identification in Fig. 5(a) and (b) will be provided. In the case of a conventional machine, the relay device 4 receives the pulse signal output from the gaming machine (not shown), and therefore the relay device 4 is the subject of the judgment. In the case of a data signal machine, the relay device 4 also is the subject of the judgment, but since the state signal (the data item) output from the gaming machine 1 is received by the relay device 4 via the gaming device 2 as described above (see Fig. 1), the gaming device 2 adjusts the data item received from the gaming machine 1 to an output format that the relay device 4 can process, but transmits a data signal including (or similar to) the data item in Fig. 5(a) to the relay device 4.

[0049] In contrast, in the game center system of this embodiment, when a target state (for example, the jackpot state shown in FIG. 6) is specified as an ON state, if the state signal indicates that the state is OFF (for example, in the case of (2) in FIG. 6), a first specification process is performed to specify the jackpot state as an OFF state, and when a communication abnormality determination means (for example, the game device 2) determines that a communication abnormality has occurred (for example, in the case of (5) in FIG. 6), a second specification process is performed to specify the target state as an OFF state without the state signal indicating that the state is OFF. This configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6.

[0050] The I / F section (communication section) in the gaming device 2 described above and an I / F section (communication section in the data signal device) in the gaming machine 1 (not shown) are communicatively connected by wiring L1 shown in Figure 3, and the gaming device 2 determines whether a communication abnormality has occurred regarding the status signal between the gaming device 2 and the gaming machine 1. Specifically, as shown by "on" or "off" for "power (state)" in Figure 6, the gaming device 2 determines whether it is on if it can communicate with the gaming machine 1 via its own communication unit or wiring L1, and whether it is off if it cannot.

[0051] That is, "power supply (state)" represents the on / off state of the gaming machine 1, and since a state signal of a target state such as a jackpot state cannot be received from the gaming machine 1 due to the power interruption (off), it can also be said to represent the presence or absence of a communication abnormality with the gaming machine 1. This means that data representing the power supply (state) itself is not output from the gaming machine 1, but the gaming device 2 monitors the communication status with the gaming machine 1, and judges it to be on if the power supply of the gaming machine 1 is on and communication is possible, and judges it to be off if a communication abnormality occurs due to a power interruption, and then transmits the judgment result (see "on" and "off" in FIG. 6) to the relay device 4. The time chart in FIG. 6 is shown as a conceptual diagram similar to that in FIG. 5, and the determination regarding a communication abnormality can be performed at a predetermined interval (for example, at an interval of 200 ms) in accordance with the status signal.

[0052] Here, Figure 6 illustrates, as "data signal status identification 1" in this embodiment, the interrelationship between the jackpot (status) signal output from the gaming machine 1, the occurrence or non-occurrence of a communication abnormality due to a power outage, and the result of identifying the jackpot status. As shown in Figure 6, the gaming machine 1 outputs a status signal of the jackpot state at intervals of, for example, 200 ms, and when the status signal received via the gaming device 2 indicates that it is on, the relay device 4 identifies the target state, that is, the jackpot state, as an on state, while when the status signal indicates that it is off while the on state has been identified, the relay device 4 executes a first identification process to identify the jackpot state as an off state.

[0053] As a result, based on the status signal of the jackpot state, the relay device 4 determines that a jackpot has occurred at point (1) in Figure 6 when the status signal indicates "on" (identifying the target state of (1) as the on state), and then determines that the jackpot has ended by the first identification process at point (2) when the status signal indicates "off" (identifying the target state of (2) as the off state).

[0054] Then, suppose that another jackpot has occurred at point (3) when the status signal indicates "on" (after the target state of (3) is identified as the on state), and then the power to the gaming machine 1 is turned off (power outage) at point (4) during that jackpot. Due to this power outage, the output of the status signal is interrupted from (4) onwards and neither "on" nor "off" is indicated (the status signal cannot determine the end of the jackpot), but at the point (5) when the gaming device 2 determines that it is no longer able to communicate with the gaming machine 1, it transmits a determination result to the relay device 4 that the power (status) is "off", indicating this.

[0055] As a result, when the relay device 4 receives the judgment result "off" from the gaming device 2, even if the status signal of the jackpot state remains interrupted (the status signal does not indicate "off" after (5)), the relay device 4 determines that the jackpot has ended again by the second determination process (the target state is determined to be the off state in (5)). In this way, in the system of this embodiment, the end of the target state, such as a jackpot state, is determined not only when a status signal indicating “off” is received (2), but also when a status signal cannot be received from the gaming machine 1 (at point (5)), resulting in the same state determination as in conventional machines (see (4) in Figure 5(b)).

[0056] As described above, the relay device 4 of the first embodiment is configured to be capable of executing a first identification process for identifying the target state as an off state (identifying the end of the jackpot) when the status signal indicates that the state is off (when the jackpot (state) becomes "off" (2)) in a state in which the target state is identified as an on state, such as the jackpot (state) in Figure 6 (the state identification in the same figure is in the "on" state), and a second identification process for identifying the target state as an off state (identifying the end of the jackpot in (5)) when it is determined by the gaming device 2 that a communication abnormality has occurred (when the power supply (state) becomes "off" (5)) without the status signal indicating that the state is off (the status signal does not indicate "off").

[0057] According to this, the target state for the gaming machine 1 or gaming device 2 as a data signal device can be determined to be the off state not only by the status signal indicating whether it is on or off, but also by a communication abnormality with the gaming machine 1. Therefore, even if a communication abnormality occurs due to, for example, a power outage or a break in the wiring L1, the target state can be properly identified as the off state, and the state can be properly managed. Furthermore, by identifying the target state as the off state due to a communication abnormality in the data signal device, the data signal device will behave in the same manner as a conventional machine (for example, the same state identification "off" as when power is cut off (4) in Figure 5 (b)). This can eliminate the problem that the gaming machine 1 is difficult to use as a data signal device even if conventional machines are mixed in the gaming island, or even for employees who are accustomed to conventional machines.

[0058] <Second embodiment> FIG. 7 shows the configuration around the gaming machine 1 in the gaming island together with the door sensor 50 in the second embodiment. The target state in this second embodiment is the door open state in the figure, that is, the state indicated by the door open signal output from the door sensor 50 installed in each gaming machine 1, which corresponds to a door open or door closed state, so to speak, and is either on or off.

[0059] That is, when the gaming machine 1 is a pachinko machine as shown in Fig. 7, since the main control board BOX51 having the power switch 51a and the like is provided on the back of the gaming machine 1, in order to access the back of the gaming machine 1, the locking device k2 on the right side as viewed from the face of the gaming machine 1 is unlocked, and the gaming machine 1 is rotated around the left side as a fulcrum (around a rotation axis not shown) as shown in the figure. This is the so-called door opening.

[0060] The locking device k2 has a key insertion slot k1 (see FIG. 2) on the right outer side of the board 1a of the gaming machine 1, and can be locked and unlocked by an employee operating the key from the front side. When locked, a lock piece (not shown) of the locking device k2 engages with a lock receiving portion k3 (see FIG. 7) of the gaming island, locking the gaming machine 1 to the gaming island in a closed state. When unlocking, the lock piece is released from the lock receiving portion k3, and the right side of the gaming machine 1 is pulled out toward the front as described above, and the door sensor 50 and other elements in the game island that were closed by the gaming machine 1 become visible. The gaming device 2 is also provided with a locking mechanism (not shown) on its side, and the gaming device 2 can be removed from the game island by unlocking the locking mechanism, and this locking mechanism can also be accessed by opening the door. If the gaming machine includes a door open (state) item in the data items, the door open state can be identified by providing a door sensor 50 that detects the locked state of the locking mechanism.

[0061] Although not shown in the figures, if the gaming machine 1 is a slot machine, a main control board is provided inside the slot machine, so the inside of the slot machine can be accessed by rotating the front part of the slot machine in the same manner as above. In a slot machine, this is called door opening.

[0062] Conventionally, such door opening is detected by a door sensor 50 (which may be provided in the gaming machine 1 as described above) provided in the gaming island, and the state is identified by receiving the detection signal. The detection signal is a pulse signal that is output at a certain level during a corresponding period, similar to the jackpot signal of a conventional machine (see the rectangular pulse in FIG. 5(b)), and the relay device 4 receives the pulse signal from the door sensor 50 (without passing through the gaming device 2) to identify the state.

[0063] On the other hand, in the configuration of the data signal of this embodiment, the relay device 4 receives game information via the gaming device 2 (see the wiring L2 in FIG. 3). For this reason, it is more convenient to transmit the detection signal of the door sensor 50 to the relay device 4 via the gaming device 2 like other game information, so it is transmitted as one item of data signals (door open signal) that can be output at a predetermined interval (via the gaming device 2) like the "on" and "off" state signals in FIG. 6. The door sensor 50 is connected to the gaming device 2 by a wiring not shown, and is wired separately from the wiring L1 between the gaming machine 1 and the gaming device 2 shown in FIG. 3.

[0064] In this way, since the door open signal is not transmitted from the gaming machine 1, there is no effect even if the gaming machine 1 is turned off, but since it is transmitted via the gaming device 2, turning off the power to the gaming device 2 also results in a situation similar to that of the power outage (4) in Fig. 5(a) If this is the case, the most problematic case is when the gaming machine 1 and the gaming device 2 are installed, and the power is turned off after various check operations have been completed and before the store opens the next day.

[0065] That is, if the gaming device 2 is turned off with the door open after the confirmation work, similar to the case after the power is turned off (4) in Fig. 5(a), no information is transmitted from the gaming device 2, and the relay device 4 cannot cancel the door open state (cannot specify the off state). Similarly, for convenience of power supply, there are cases where power is supplied only to multiple gaming devices 2 installed on the same gaming island (separate from the relay device 4), but if this power supply is turned off and there happens to be a gaming machine 1 with the door open, it is possible that the relay device 4 cannot cancel the door open state (cannot specify the off state) even if the actual door open of the gaming machine 1 is subsequently released (even if the gaming machine 1 is locked in the closed state).

[0066] Therefore, the relay device 4 in this embodiment is configured as a communication abnormality determination means for monitoring the communication status between the gaming device 2, assuming a case in which communication with the gaming device 2 via the wiring L2 becomes impossible, and is also configured as a state identification means capable of executing a first identification process and a second identification process. Therefore, the door open state can be identified by using a door open signal instead of the big win (state) state signal in FIG.

[0067] In other words, when the door open state is identified as the on state by the door open signal output from the gaming device 2 and the door open signal indicates that it is off (when the door open signal indicates "off" in (2) of Figure 6), the relay device 4 executes a first identification process to identify the door open state as the off state. On the other hand, when communication with the gaming device 2 is lost and it is determined that the gaming device 2 has been powered off (when the power state is determined to be "off" in (5) of Figure 6), the relay device 4 executes a second identification process to identify various target states including the door open state as the off state, thereby making it possible to cancel the door open state.

[0068] Each process in the relay device 4 can be applied to other target states such as a jackpot state. The target state is not limited to a signal output from an auxiliary device of the gaming machine 1 such as the door sensor 50, but may be any state that indicates whether the state is on or off based on a signal output from the gaming machine 1.

[0069] For example, as described above, some gaming machines 1 are provided with a door sensor 50 and output a door open signal by including it in a data signal, and there are also cases where the door sensor 50 of the gaming island shown in FIG. 7 is not used. In this case, if the gaming machine 1 is turned off alone with the door open state after the above confirmation work, it is assumed that the door open state cannot be turned off as described above because the data signal is not transmitted from the gaming machine 1 even if the door open state is actually turned off after that. In such a case, as in the first embodiment, the gaming device 2 can determine that the gaming machine 1 is turned off (by determining that a communication abnormality has occurred) and specify that the door open state is an off state (the door open state can be turned off). Note that, when the gaming device 2 is turned off, it is of course possible to determine that a communication abnormality has occurred as described above by the relay device 4. In any case, in this second embodiment, the communication status between the gaming device 2 (or the communication status via the gaming device 2) is monitored.

[0070] As described above, in the second embodiment of the amusement park system, at least the gaming device 2 is configured to be able to output a status signal including, for example, a door open signal at a predetermined interval (for example, 200 ms intervals), and when the communication anomaly determination means determines that a communication anomaly has occurred in a state in which the target state is identified as an on state by the status signal output from the gaming device 2 (see power (state) "off" in Figure 6), the relay device 4 is able to execute a second identification process by identifying the target state as an off state (for example, by identifying the door open state as an off state even if the door open signal does not indicate off). According to this, for example, by installing the gaming machine 1 and the gaming device 2 and then turning off the power to the gaming device 2 in preparation for business hours, it becomes possible to determine the end of the door open state, etc., even if a status signal indicating that a door open signal, etc., is off cannot be received.

[0071] <Third embodiment> FIG. 8 shows specific state 2 of a data traffic signal in the third embodiment. Here, Fig. 8 illustrates the jackpot state as an example of the target state, similar to Fig. 6. Also, the "communication (state)" in Fig. 8 represents the communication state between the relay device 4 and the gaming device 2 described in the second embodiment, and is distinguished from the "power supply (state)" of the gaming machine 1 in Fig. 6, but it can be said that they are common in that they indicate the "on" or "off" determination result that determines whether or not a communication abnormality has occurred regarding the status signal as described above. Figure 8 shows the transition of state identification when the relay device 4 determines that power has been interrupted to the gaming device 2 due to a loss of communication with the gaming device 2 (when the communication state in the figure becomes off (5)), and when power is restored within a predetermined time (e.g., 10 seconds) after the power interruption, communication becomes possible and the state signal for the jackpot state turns on.

[0072] That is, the process up to the occurrence of the jackpot in (3) in Fig. 8 is the same as the process up to the occurrence of the jackpot in (3) in Fig. 6, but in (4) in Fig. 8, an abnormality occurs in the gaming device 2 during the jackpot. In this case, the abnormality is eliminated by cutting off the power to the gaming device 2 or temporarily removing it from the game island, and then the gaming device 2 is restored by turning on the power or attaching it to the game island, which is the recovery work performed by an employee. It is assumed that, following this communication restoration, the gaming device 2 resumes outputting status signals such as the jackpot state of the corresponding gaming machine 1. In Figure 8, the gaming device 2 is left blank until the point (6) when the status signal of the jackpot state, which was discontinued from the time of power loss (5) to the gaming device 2, is re-output.

[0073] In this way, since it is assumed that the status signal will be output again even if communication with the gaming device 2 becomes impossible, in this embodiment, when communication becomes impossible, the determination of the end of the jackpot state (execution of the second determination process) is delayed for, for example, 10 seconds (reference period), and if the jackpot state is restored during the delay, it is determined that the jackpot state continues (the on state is deemed to have continued from (5) to (6)). Of course, it is also possible that the jackpot state has actually ended, so if it is determined that the jackpot state is off at the time of restoration, it is determined that the state has ended.

[0074] On the other hand, if the cause of the abnormality is not the gaming device 2 but the gaming machine 1, the gaming machine 1 may be powered off, but as described above, even if the gaming device 2 can determine that the gaming machine 1 is powered off, the determination may be delayed to determine that the jackpot state continues. In any case, in this embodiment, the predetermined condition is established when a predetermined period of time has passed since the occurrence of the communication abnormality, and the predetermined period of, for example, 10 seconds is designated as T and is also referred to as "period T."

[0075] As a result, as shown in Figure 8, if the first condition is met that a communication abnormality occurs in the state after (3) in which the jackpot state is identified as the on state, and the communication abnormality is resolved as communication is restored without the passage of the period T from the point in time (5), and the second condition is that the on state can be identified after the communication abnormality is resolved (i.e., the on state is identified at the point in time (6) when the status signal indicates "on" after (5)), then the relay device 4 is configured to regard the on state as having continued from the occurrence of the communication abnormality until it is resolved (see the state identification "on" from (4) to (6)).

[0076] In this way, the relay device 4 delays execution of the second identification process until the predetermined condition is met, that is, until 10 seconds have not yet elapsed from the time (5) when the communication (state) is "off" to the time (6) when the communication (state) is "on," in Fig. 8, and the state identification does not become "off." Also, in Fig. 8, the first condition and the second condition are met by the time (6), and the second identification process at the time of the communication abnormality (see the process of turning off the state identification at (5) in Fig. 6) is not executed, and the state identification is identified as being in the on state from (5) to (6).

[0077] Although not shown in the figures, some gaming machines 1 have data signals that output a status signal as off initially, or only a few times from the beginning, after the power is turned on, and then turn it on. This is because the gaming machine 1 itself cannot identify the status immediately after the power is turned on, and when the communication abnormality is resolved, that is, at the point in time (6) in Figure 8, the status signal indicating off will be output at least once.

[0078] Considering the gaming machine 1, the above-mentioned delay in the end determination can be used to some extent (if the status signal changes from off to on within the above-mentioned period T), but it may also be determined that the target state from the time of the power outage continues if the power is turned on within the period T after the power outage and the status signal off is output a predetermined number of times (for example, 5 times or for 1 second, but it is preferable not to specify the end with at least one off) after the communication is restored and then the status signal turns on. In this way, the second condition may be specified so that, for example, when the communication abnormality is resolved at the time of (6) in Fig. 8, based on the fact that a status signal such as a jackpot state is output at a predetermined interval, even if a status signal indicating off is output at least once, if the on state can be specified by the output of a status signal indicating on after that output.

[0079] Furthermore, instead of delaying the above-mentioned end determination, a provisional end determination of the target state may be made at the time of power outage, and if the state is restored within the subsequent period T, it may be determined that the target state is continuing as if there had been no off state determination.Any configuration may be adopted as long as it is possible to determine that the target state is continuing if communication is restored before a specified condition is met after power outage (such as the passage of period T or the input of a specified number of off state signals).

[0080] In addition, since the power of the gaming device 2 is often turned off during business hours, while the power of the gaming machine 1 is seldom turned off, the following configuration may be adopted. That is, the specification that the target state at the time of communication (power) recovery as shown in Fig. 8 is regarded as continuing may be performed when the power of the gaming device 2 is recovered, but may not be performed when the power of the gaming machine 1 is recovered, and "power off of the gaming machine 1 = end of the target state" may be adopted. Although the relay device 4 and the gaming device 2 have determined that there has been a power outage, it is possible that there is no actual power outage but a communication failure (for example, a break in the wiring L1 and L2 in FIG. 3 or a device lock), so this is generally expressed as a communication abnormality state. Also, the relay device 4 and the gaming device 2 each serve as a communication abnormality determination means capable of determining a communication abnormality regarding a status signal.

[0081] As described above, in the relay device 4 of the third embodiment, when a communication abnormality occurs in a state in which the target state is identified as an on state, such as the jackpot state from (3) onwards illustrated in Figure 8, and, for example, the first condition that the communication abnormality is resolved without satisfying a specified condition relating to the period T from the occurrence (the period T from (5) in the same figure) and the second condition that the on state can be identified after the communication abnormality is resolved are satisfied, the relay device 4 performs a specification process in which the on state is deemed to have continued from the occurrence of the communication abnormality to its resolution (from (5) to (6) in the same figure). According to this, for example, if a communication abnormality occurs in the gaming device 2 and the power is cut off or the device is unlocked, if a specified condition is not met, it is possible to determine that the target state continues regardless of the communication abnormality, thereby reducing the risk of the actual target state differing due to the communication abnormality.

[0082] The relay device 4 delays the execution of the second specific process (for example, does not perform the state specific off as in (5) of Figure 6) until a predetermined condition is met, for example, after a period T of 10 seconds has elapsed since the occurrence of the communication abnormality, and if the first condition and the second condition are met, it does not execute the second specific process at the time of the communication abnormality and regards the on state of the target state as continuing (for example, performs specific processing that regards the jackpot state of Figure 8 as continuing from (5) to (6)). According to this, even if a communication abnormality occurs in the gaming device 2, for example, by taking measures such as cutting off the power or unlocking the device before the specified period T has elapsed, it is possible to reduce the risk of the communication abnormality causing a discrepancy with the actual state or the risk of unintentionally determining that the target state has ended (determining that the state is off by the second determination process).

[0083] The second condition is met if, when the communication abnormality is resolved, a status signal is output at a predetermined interval, for example, at 200 ms intervals, and even if a status signal indicating off is output at least once (for example, even if it is assumed that "off" is output instead of "on" at point (6) in Figure 8), the on state can be identified by the output of a status signal indicating on after that output. According to this, for example, even if the gaming machine 1 or gaming device 2 is designed to output a status signal indicating that the target state is off for a specified number of times even if the target state is on when power is restored, it is possible to reduce the risk of the actual target state being different or the risk of unintentionally determining the end of the target state.

[0084] <Fourth embodiment> Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the game center system according to the fourth embodiment. The game center system according to the fourth embodiment shown in Fig. 9 differs from the game center system according to the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 in the following points.

[0085] 9, a communication pulse converter 55 is provided between the relay device 4 and the gaming device 2 to connect the two devices 4, 2. The communication pulse converter 55 is a device provided through a third party (for example, a combination of the manufacturers of the relay device 4 and the gaming device 2) so that it can be used even if the relay device 4 and the gaming device 2 are manufactured by different manufacturers. In addition, the island computer 56 in the figure is located above the relay devices 4 and manages multiple relay devices 4, and the management device 6' is located above the island computer 56 and manages multiple island computers 56. Therefore, the management device 6' can be made to have part of the functions of the management device 6 in the first embodiment. Also, the gaming device management device 61 is a management device for the gaming devices 2 provided when the relay devices 4 and the gaming devices 2 are manufactured by different manufacturers, and is manufactured by the same manufacturer as the gaming devices 2 but a different manufacturer from the management device 6', and mainly manages the status and sales information of the gaming devices 2.

[0086] The communication pulse converter 55 has a function of converting the status signal (data signal) input from the gaming device 2 into a pulse signal and outputting it, as well as a function of outputting a data signal similar to that of a data signal, but some of them lack a function of identifying a power outage of the gaming machine 1. For this reason, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the present invention is not applied without identifying a power outage of the gaming machine 1, while a data (status) signal including an item capable of identifying a status such as a "jackpot (status)" item output from the communication pulse converter 55 is output at a predetermined interval, so that when the relay device 4 identifies that there is no change in the game information by the relevant data signal (such as the status signal not being output at a predetermined interval), it may be configured to perform processing similar to that of the above-mentioned embodiment, such as determining that a communication abnormality has occurred and executing a second identification process.

[0087] In addition, there may be cases where a communication abnormality occurs regarding the status signal, such as the communication pulse converter 55 itself being cut off, and in such cases, processing similar to that in the above-mentioned embodiment (such as executing the second identification processing, assuming that the communication abnormality with the communication pulse converter 55 is included in the communication abnormality on the gaming device 2 side) may be performed.

[0088] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be modified or expanded as follows. In addition, the configurations shown as examples may be combined in any manner, including modified examples, or may not be adopted as appropriate.

[0089] Although a jackpot state and a door open state have been given as examples of target states, any state may be targeted as long as it is a state related to the gaming machine 1 or gaming device 2 and its on / off status can be identified by a signal, such as a special state, an illegal state, a call state for calling an employee using the call button 37 on the gaming device 2, or the state of an ancillary device of the gaming machine 1 other than the door sensor 50, such as a radio wave detector.

[0090] Although the predetermined condition has been exemplified as including the lapse of a predetermined period T from the occurrence of a communication abnormality, and the second condition as including the input of a status signal indicating that the signal is off a predetermined number of times (at least once), the predetermined condition and the first and second conditions may be modified as appropriate. For example, the second condition may include the input of a status signal a predetermined number of times regardless of whether the status signal indicates that the signal is off, or an additional condition may be adopted that is met by an operation to clear the abnormality on the relay device 4 or the input of a remote control signal for clearing the abnormality from the employee remote control 40.

[0091] Each set value may be set by an administrator through operation input, may be set in advance by the manufacturer of the management device 6, 6', or may be set by downloading setting information from an external server (such as the headquarters of a chain store). In this case, the set value is also input by operation input at the server. Also, past game information may be set as a reference value. All of the exemplified game information may be directly determined by an input signal or indirectly determined by using an arithmetic expression.

[0092] The numerical values, digits, items, etc. are merely examples, and any numerical values ​​may be used. In addition, the identification output may be in any output form, such as adding symbols other than those shown in the examples, and at least printing and display output are envisioned. Regarding "above" and "exceed," either one can be used, and expressions such as "reached" and "exceeded" correspond to either "above" or "exceeded." The same is true for "below" and "less than," and expressions such as "did not reach" correspond to both.

[0093] The target gaming machine 1 is a data signal machine that is a so-called sealed type that manages gaming value only with data, but a credit type slot machine that does not pay out medals but manages it with data such as credits may also be used. Not only payout type pachinko machines but also slot machines and other machines can be used as conventional machines. The reason why "value" is used, such as gaming value, is to include both acquired value managed by data as in this embodiment and gaming media that are paid out. Some of the processes performed by the relay device 4 may be performed by the management device 6, 6', the game device 2, etc., and any other configuration may be used. Furthermore, the configurations shown as examples may be combined in any manner, including modified examples, or may not be adopted as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] In the drawing, 1 is a gaming machine, 2 and 2a are gaming devices and their control units (communication abnormality determination means), 4 is a relay device (state specification means, communication abnormality determination means), and 50 is a door sensor (ancillary device).

Claims

1. A system for an amusement facility including a gaming machine and an associated gaming device, the gaming machine or the gaming device is configured to be capable of outputting a state signal at predetermined intervals, the state signal indicating whether a target state relating to the gaming machine or the gaming device is in an ON state or an OFF state; a state specifying means for specifying the target state as an ON state when the state signal indicates that the target state is ON; a communication abnormality determination means for determining whether or not a communication abnormality has occurred regarding the status signal, When the state specifying means specifies the target state as an ON state, a first identification process for identifying the target state as an off state when the state signal indicates that the target state is off; A system for an amusement park configured to be capable of executing a second identification process that identifies the target state as an off state when the communication anomaly determination means determines that a communication anomaly has occurred, without the status signal indicating that the state is off.

2. The target state is a state indicating whether the state is on or off based on a signal output from the gaming machine or an associated device of the gaming machine, the gaming device is configured to be capable of outputting the status signal at predetermined intervals, the communication abnormality determination means is capable of monitoring a communication state between the game device and the game device, and determining that the communication abnormality has occurred when an abnormality has occurred in the communication state; The amusement park system of claim 1, wherein the state identification means is capable of executing the second identification process by identifying the target state as an off state when the communication anomaly determination means determines that a communication anomaly has occurred while the target state is identified as an on state by the status signal output from the amusement device.

3. The amusement park system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the state identification means determines that the on state continued from the occurrence of the communication abnormality to its resolution when a first condition is met: the communication abnormality occurred while the target state was identified as an on state, and the communication abnormality was resolved without a specified condition being satisfied, and a second condition is met: the on state can be identified after the communication abnormality is resolved.

4. the predetermined condition is satisfied when a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the occurrence of the communication abnormality, The amusement park system described in claim 3, wherein the state determination means delays execution of the second determination process until the specified condition is met, and if the first condition and the second condition are met, the second determination process is not executed in the event of the communication abnormality and the on state is deemed to have continued.

5. The amusement park system described in claim 3, wherein the second condition is met when the communication abnormality is resolved based on the status signal being output at the specified interval, and even if a status signal indicating off is output at least once, after that output, the on state can be identified by the output of a status signal indicating on.

Images