Game machine

Abstract

To provide a game machine capable of executing a highly entertaining performance.SOLUTION: Performance control means provided in a game machine variably displays a performance symbol in accordance with variation display of a special symbol, and stops and displays the performance symbol showing a determination result in accordance with the stopped display of the special symbol. Prior to a winning notification performance that notifies a player that a special game is to be executed, the performance control means can execute an expectation performance that makes the player expect the winning notification performance to be played, and then execute an attention performance that draws attention to the performance symbol suggesting that the special game is to be executed. After the expectation performance is started, there is a first time when the performance symbol is displayed in a first display mode, and a second time when the performance symbol is displayed in a second display mode different from the first display mode, and the attention performance is more likely to be executed in the second time than in the first time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a gaming machine equipped with a presentation control means for controlling presentations. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, in a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine, when a gaming ball enters a starting hole, it is determined whether or not a special game advantageous to the player is executed, and after the special symbol is displayed in a variable manner, a special symbol indicating the result of the above determination is displayed in a static manner. Then, when the special symbol indicating that it is determined that the special game is executed is displayed in a static manner, the special game in which the player can acquire gaming media is executed. Among these types of gaming machines, there are some that display various effects such as a step-up notice that can progress step by step to any step number less than a predetermined step number by displaying a variable manner of the special symbol in accordance with the variable display of the special symbol, a line notice that displays the appearance of a character speaking a line, a group notice that displays the appearance of many characters moving in a predetermined direction, and a cut-in that displays a predetermined cut-in image superimposed on the displayed effect image (for example, see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-80893 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the presentations in conventional gaming machines are not necessarily sufficiently entertaining, and there is room for improvement in terms of increasing the entertaining factor.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine capable of executing highly entertaining presentations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The first aspect of the invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is a gaming machine comprising: A determination means for determining whether or not a special game advantageous to a player is to be executed; a special symbol display control means for causing the special symbol display means to variably display the special symbols and then to stop displaying the special symbols indicating the result of the determination; a special game execution means for executing the special game when a special symbol indicating that the determination means has determined that the special game is to be executed is stopped and displayed on the special symbol display means; A performance control means for controlling the performance, The performance control means includes: A performance pattern is displayed in a variable manner in accordance with the variable display of the special pattern, and a performance pattern showing the result of the judgment is displayed in a stopped state in accordance with the stop display of the special pattern, Prior to the winning notification effect that notifies the player that the special game will be executed, an expectation effect that makes the player expect that the winning notification effect will be executed can be executed, and then an attention effect that draws the player's attention to an effect pattern that suggests that the special game will be executed can be executed. After starting the expected performance, there is a first time when the performance pattern is displayed in a first display mode, and a second time when the performance pattern is displayed in a second display mode different from the first display mode, The present invention is characterized in that the attention-grabbing performance is more likely to be executed in the second state than in the first state.

[0007] According to this gaming machine, the attention effect that draws attention to the effect pattern suggesting that a special game will be executed is more likely to be executed in the second time when the effect pattern is displayed in the second display mode than in the first time when the effect pattern is displayed in the first display mode. Therefore, by displaying the effect pattern in the second display mode, it is possible to effectively increase the player's sense of expectation for the attention effect and the winning notification effect (and the special game) to be executed. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to implement a highly entertaining presentation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] Front view of gaming machine 1 [Diagram 2] Front view of game board 2 [Diagram 3] An enlarged view of the main display 40 in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the opening and closing control of the second large prize opening 28 and the V prize opening 287. [Diagram 5] A block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control device provided in the gaming machine 1. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the jackpot random number and the symbol random number. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the flow of a game in the gaming machine 1. [Figure 8] An explanatory diagram illustrating the flow of main effects in a normal game state. [Figure 9] An explanatory diagram illustrating the flow of a series of effects after the reach establishment effect following the reach establishment provocation effect [Figure 10] A screen diagram showing a specific example of a series of effects from the start of the fluctuation to the reach-achi effect in a normal gaming state. [Figure 11] A screen image showing a specific example of the first performance route of the SPSP reach [Figure 12] A screen diagram showing a specific example of the first performance pattern attention performance and the second performance pattern attention performance [Figure 13] Screen diagram showing a specific example of a reach pattern attention performance [Figure 14] A screen image showing a specific example of the second performance route of the SPSP reach (part 1) [Figure 15] Screenshot showing a specific example of the second route of the SPSP reach (part 2) [Figure 16] A screen image showing a specific example of a double-digit pattern attention display that draws attention to the three patterns that show the double digits "222". [Figure 17] A screen diagram showing a specific example of a series of effects in which a reach symbol reduction movement effect is executed after a reach symbol attention effect. [Figure 18]FIG. 11 is a screen diagram showing a specific example of a series of effects when a miss notification effect is executed after a reach-establishment failure effect. [Figure 19] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the characteristics of each noteworthy effect and its related effects executed in the normal effect mode; [Figure 20] A screen diagram showing an example of a presentation when a V win is announced during a big win game. [Figure 21] An explanatory diagram for explaining the robot type gimmick 15 and the swinging effect using the robot type gimmick 15. [Figure 22] An explanatory diagram illustrating the flow of a series of performances in the target front change [Diagram 23] An explanatory diagram illustrating the flow of a series of performances in the case of pre-reading target fluctuations [Figure 24] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the characteristics of each rocking effect and its related effects executed in the normal effect mode; [Diagram 25] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a pre-swaying effect; [Figure 26] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining storage areas of the main RAM 83 and information stored in each storage area. [Figure 27] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an interrupt process executed in the main control board 80. [Figure 28] Detailed flow chart of the sensor detection process in step S2 of FIG. 27. [Figure 29] Detailed flowchart of the pre-determination process in steps S211 and S219 of FIG. [Diagram 30] Detailed flowchart of special symbol processing in step S3 of FIG. [Diagram 31] Detailed flowchart of the big win determination process in step S308 of FIG. [Diagram 32] Detailed flowchart of the variation pattern selection process in step S309 of FIG. [Diagram 33] Detailed flowchart of the special chart stop processing in step S317 of FIG. [Diagram 34]Detailed flowchart of the big prize opening / closing control process in step S6 of FIG. 27 (part 1) [Diagram 35] Detailed flow chart of the big prize opening / closing control process in step S6 of FIG. 27 (part 2) [Diagram 36] Detailed flowchart of the big prize opening / closing control process in step S6 of FIG. 27 (part 3) [Figure 37] 11 is a flowchart illustrating an interrupt process executed in the sub-control board 90. [Figure 38] Detailed flow chart of the command receiving process in step S10 of FIG. 37 [Figure 39] Detailed flowchart of the hold command receiving process in step S13 of FIG. 38. [Diagram 40] Detailed flowchart of the icon change effect pattern setting process in step S135 of FIG. 39. [Diagram 41] A detailed flowchart of the chance eye effect pattern setting process in step S136 of FIG. [Diagram 42] Detailed flowchart of the process of setting the presentation symbol attention presentation pattern in step S137 of FIG. [Diagram 43] A detailed flowchart of the preliminary shaking effect pattern setting process in step S138 of FIG. [Diagram 44] Detailed flowchart of fluctuation start command reception processing in step S16 of FIG. 38 [Diagram 45] Detailed flowchart of the variable performance pattern setting process in step S163 of FIG. [Diagram 46] A detailed flowchart of the advance notice performance pattern setting process in step S164 of FIG. [Figure 47] A detailed flowchart of the attention performance pattern setting process in step S165 of FIG. [Figure 48] A detailed flowchart of the rocking effect pattern setting process in step S169 of FIG. [Figure 49] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an interrupt process executed in the image and audio control board 100. [Figure 50] Detailed flowchart of the image display control process in step S71 of FIG. 49. [Figure 51] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an interrupt process executed in the lamp control board 120. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, a gaming machine (pachinko gaming machine) 1 according to an embodiment of the gaming machine of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate.

[0011] [Configuration example of gaming machine 1] First, a configuration example of the gaming machine 1 will be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. Here, Fig. 1 is a front view of the gaming machine 1, and Fig. 2 is a front view of the gaming board 2. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the gaming machine 1 includes a gaming machine frame 30 and a gaming board 2 attached within the gaming machine frame 30. The gaming machine frame 30 includes a front frame 31 having a decorative surface, a main frame for attaching the gaming board 2, etc., and an outer frame for fixing the gaming machine 1 to the island equipment of the hall. The front frame 31 supports a glass plate arranged parallel to the gaming board 2 at a predetermined interval, and the glass plate and the gaming board 2 form a gaming area 3 in which gaming balls can flow down.

[0012] 1, the front frame 31 is provided with a launch handle 32 for launching game balls, an upper tray 33 for storing game balls to be supplied to a launching device (not shown), and a lower tray 34 for storing game balls that cannot be stored in the upper tray 33. When a player grips the launch handle 32 and rotates it clockwise, the game balls stored in the upper tray 33 are guided to the launching device and launched with a launch strength according to the rotation angle of the launch handle 32. The launched game ball moves along a rail member 4 located on the left side of the play area 3, and is guided to an upper position of the play area 3, and flows down the play area 3 along the play board 2 while changing its moving direction by coming into contact with a play nail, a windmill, or the like provided in the play area 3.

[0013] A ball return prevention piece 6 is provided at the end of the rail member 4, and this ball return prevention piece 6 prevents a game ball that has entered the play area 3 from returning to the launching device. Also, a stop button is provided in a position close to the launching handle 32, and the player can temporarily stop the launch of the game ball by operating this stop button without returning the launching handle 32 to its initial position.

[0014] When the player rotates the launch handle 32 by a small rotation angle to perform a "left hit," the game ball is launched with a relatively weak launch strength, and this game ball flows down the left game area 3L. On the other hand, when the player rotates the launch handle 32 by a large rotation angle to perform a "right hit," the game ball is launched with a relatively strong launch strength, and this game ball flows down the right game area 3R after moving along the rail member 4 located in the upper right of the center decorative body 10.

[0015] In the left game area 3L, the game ball passage path is provided with a first start port 21, a second start port 22, an opening / closing member 23, and three general winning ports 24 as devices related to winning and judgment (see FIG. 2). In addition, in the right game area 3R, the game ball passage path is provided with the second start port 22, the opening / closing member 23, one general winning port 24, a gate 25, a first large winning port 26, an opening / closing member 27, a second large winning port 28, and an opening / closing member 29 as devices related to winning and judgment (see FIG. 2).

[0016] The game balls launched from the launching device may enter any one of the first start opening 21, the second start opening 22, the general winning opening 24, the first large winning opening 26, and the second large winning opening 28 in the process of flowing down the game area 3 along the game board 2. In this case, a predetermined number of prize balls according to the winning location are paid out to the upper tray 33 or the lower tray 34. For example, four prize balls are paid out every time one game ball enters the first start opening 21, one prize ball is paid out every time one game ball enters the second start opening 22, and five prize balls are paid out every time one game ball enters the general winning opening 24. Also, ten prize balls are paid out every time one game ball enters the first large winning opening 26, and ten prize balls are paid out every time one game ball enters the second large winning opening 28. In addition, game balls that do not win any prizes are discharged from the game area 3 through a discharge port formed at the lower end of the game board 2.

[0017] A center ornament 10 is provided in the opening formed in the center of the game board 2. The center ornament 10 is composed of a stage section 11 having a game ball rolling surface on which the game ball can roll, and a warp section 12 having a warp entrance and a warp exit at both ends. A game ball flowing down the left game area 3L may enter the warp section 12 from the warp entrance, and this game ball is discharged from the warp exit and guided to the stage section 11. A guide groove is formed at the center position of the left and right sides of the stage section 11 to drop the game ball rolling on the stage section 11 toward the first starting opening 21. For this reason, a game ball guided to the stage section 11 through the warp section 12 is more likely to enter the first starting opening 21 than a game ball flowing down the left game area 3L without passing through the warp section 12.

[0018] The first start hole 21 is a start area that is always open. The second start hole 22 is a start area that is closed when the opening / closing member 23 as a normal electric role is not operating, and is opened by operating the opening / closing member 23. In the gaming machine 1, when a game ball enters the first start hole 21 (or the second start hole 22), it is determined whether or not to execute a special game (jackpot game) that is advantageous to the player. Then, in the first special symbol display 41 (or the second special symbol display 42) described later, symbols are displayed variably, and a symbol (jackpot symbol or losing symbol) indicating the result of the above determination is displayed as a stopped symbol. Here, when a jackpot symbol is displayed as a stopped symbol, a jackpot game that opens the first jackpot opening 26 and the second jackpot opening 28 is executed.

[0019] In the following explanation, the judgment performed in response to the winning of a gaming ball into the first starting hole 21 will be referred to as the "first special pattern judgment," and the judgment performed in response to the winning of a gaming ball into the second starting hole 22 will be referred to as the "second special pattern judgment," and these will be collectively referred to as the "special pattern judgment."

[0020] The first large prize opening 26 is a special prize area that is opened according to the result of the special symbol determination. An opening / closing member 27, which is a plate that opens and closes the first large prize opening 26, is provided at the opening of the first large prize opening 26. The first large prize opening 26 is usually blocked by the opening / closing member 27, which maintains a closed position that forms the same plane as the game board 2. In contrast, when the first special symbol (or the second special symbol) as a jackpot symbol is stopped and displayed on the first special symbol display 41 (or the second special symbol display 42), a jackpot game is executed in which the opening / closing member 27 is operated to open the first large prize opening 26. During this jackpot game, a long open round game is executed in which the opening / closing member 27 maintains an open position (see FIG. 2) that opens the first large prize opening 26 and then returns to a closed position that blocks the first large prize opening 26. The long open round game in which the first large prize opening 26 is opened continues until a predetermined number of game balls (e.g., 10 balls) enter the first large prize opening 26 or until a predetermined time (e.g., 25 seconds) has elapsed since the first large prize opening 26 was opened (without the predetermined number of game balls entering the first large prize opening 26). In this way, during a jackpot game, a long open round game in which the first large prize opening 26 is long open is played. For this reason, a player can obtain more prize balls by hitting the right during a long open round game in which the first large prize opening 26 is long open, compared to when a jackpot game is not being played.

[0021] The second large prize opening 28 is a special prize area that is opened according to the result of the special symbol determination. An opening / closing member 29, which is a wing member that opens and closes the second large prize opening 28, is provided at the opening of the second large prize opening 28. The second large prize opening 28 is usually blocked by the opening / closing member 29 (see FIG. 4(A)). In contrast, when the first special symbol (or the second special symbol) is stopped and displayed as a jackpot symbol on the first special symbol display 41 (or the second special symbol display 42), the opening / closing member 29 is operated to open the second large prize opening 28, and a jackpot game is executed. During this jackpot game, a round game is executed in which the opening / closing member 29 maintains an open position (see FIG. 2, FIG. 4(B) and (C)) that opens the second large prize opening 28 and then returns to a closed position that blocks the second large prize opening 28.

[0022] As will be described later in detail, the round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened and closed includes a long opening round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened long so that a predetermined number of game balls (for example, 10 balls) can easily enter the second large prize opening 28, and a short opening round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened short so that it is extremely difficult for game balls to enter the second large prize opening 28. In the long opening round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened long, 100 prize balls (= 10 balls x 10 counts) are paid out by the player hitting the right. Therefore, the player can get more prize balls by hitting the right during the long opening round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened long, compared to when the jackpot game is not being played.

[0023] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when the main CPU 81 determines that a jackpot game is to be executed, the operation of the opening / closing member 27 and the opening / closing member 29 is controlled to execute a jackpot game in which the player can acquire gaming balls as a gaming medium.

[0024] On the other hand, in this embodiment, for the short opening round game in which the second large winning opening 28 is short-opened, the opening time during which the opening / closing member 29 maintains the open position for opening the second large winning opening 28 is set to an extremely short time of 0.1 seconds. Therefore, even if the player hits the right side during the short opening round game of the second large winning opening 28, basically, the game ball will not enter the second large winning opening 28, and the prize ball will not be paid out.

[0025] For ease of explanation, Fig. 2 shows the opening and closing members 27, 29 in the open position to open the large prize openings 26, 28 when the performance symbols are displayed variably on the display screen 70 of the image display device 7, but in reality, the opening and closing members 27, 29 are not in the open position while the performance symbols are displayed variably. Also, in each round of a big win game, either the first large prize opening 26 or the second large prize opening 28 is used, so in reality, these large prize openings are not opened at the same time as shown in Fig. 2.

[0026] An opening / closing member 23 (see FIG. 2) is disposed adjacent to the second starting port 22. This opening / closing member 23 is capable of changing its position between a closed position in which the opening / closing member 23 blocks the second starting port 22 and an open position (see FIG. 2) in which the opening / closing member 23 opens the second starting port 22.

[0027] The second starting hole 22 is usually closed by the opening / closing member 23. In contrast, when a game ball hit by a player to the right passes through the gate 25, a determination is made as to whether or not to open the second starting hole 22, although no prize balls are paid out. Here, if it is determined that the second starting hole 22 is to be opened, the opening / closing member 23 maintains an open position for a predetermined time and then returns to a closed position a predetermined number of times. In this way, the second starting hole 22 is in a state where it is difficult for game balls to pass through when the opening / closing member 23 is not operating, whereas the opening / closing member 23 operates to make it easier for game balls to pass through.

[0028] In the following description, the judgment that is executed on the condition that the gaming ball passes through the gate 25 will be referred to as a "normal symbol judgment."

[0029] The general winning opening 24 is always open like the first starting opening 21, and is a winning opening from which a predetermined number of prize balls (for example, 5 balls) are paid out when a game ball enters the general winning opening 24. However, unlike the first starting opening 21, etc., no judgment is made even if a game ball enters the general winning opening 24.

[0030] [Example of main display 40 configuration] Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the main display 40 in Fig. 2. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the main display 40 includes a first special symbol display 41, a second special symbol display 42, a normal symbol display 43, a first special symbol reserve display 44, a second special symbol reserve display 45, a normal symbol reserve display 46, a round display 47, a game status display 48, a launch direction display 49, and the like.

[0031] The first special symbol display 41 is configured with eight LEDs indicated by "i to p", and when the first special symbol determination is performed, the result of the first special symbol determination is notified by displaying the symbols variably and then displaying the symbols showing the result of the first special symbol determination stationarily. Specifically, for example, the eight LEDs are turned on in sequence to display the symbols variably, and the symbols are displayed stationarily by turning on each LED in a combination according to the result of the first special symbol determination for a predetermined fixed time (for example, 0.5 seconds).

[0032] The second special symbol display 42 is configured with eight LEDs indicated by "a-h", and when the second special symbol determination is performed, the result of the second special symbol determination is notified by displaying the symbols in a variable manner and then displaying the symbols showing the result of the second special symbol determination in a static manner. Specifically, for example, the eight LEDs are turned on in sequence to display the variable manner, and the symbols are displayed in a static manner by turning on each LED in a combination according to the result of the second special symbol determination for a predetermined fixed time (for example, 0.5 seconds).

[0033] The first special symbol display 41 (or the second special symbol display 42) displays a "jackpot symbol" notifying a jackpot or a "miss symbol" notifying a miss as a symbol indicating the result of the first special symbol determination (or the second special symbol determination). Note that in the gaming machine 1, a plurality of jackpot symbols different from each other depending on the type of jackpot are prepared, and when a jackpot symbol is displayed, a jackpot game is played in which the first jackpot opening 26 and the second jackpot opening 28 are opened in an opening pattern according to the type of the jackpot symbol.

[0034] The normal pattern display 43 is configured with two LEDs indicated by "s~t", and when a normal pattern determination is made, the pattern is displayed variably and then a pattern indicating the result of the normal pattern determination is displayed stationarily to notify the result of the normal pattern determination. Specifically, for example, the two LEDs are alternately lit to display the variably changing patterns, and the patterns are displayed stationarily by lighting each LED for a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds) in a lighting mode according to the result of the normal pattern determination. Here, when a winning pattern is displayed stationarily, an auxiliary game is performed in which the second starting hole 22 is opened by operating the opening / closing member 23 in an opening pattern according to the current game state.

[0035] In the following description, the symbols displayed on the first special symbol display device 41 and the second special symbol display device 42 are called "special symbols", and the symbols displayed on the normal symbol display device 43 are called "normal symbols". In addition, the special symbol displayed on the first special symbol display device 41 may be called the "first special symbol", and the special symbol displayed on the second special symbol display device 42 may be called the "second special symbol" to distinguish between the two.

[0036] The first special symbol reserved indicator 44 is configured with two LEDs indicated by "u to v" and indicates the number of reserved first special symbol determinations by the lighting state of these LEDs. The second special symbol reserved indicator 45 is configured with two LEDs indicated by "w to x" and indicates the number of reserved second special symbol determinations by the lighting state of these LEDs. In this embodiment, the upper limit of these reserved numbers is set to "4". The regular symbol reserved indicator 46 is configured with two LEDs indicated by "q to r" and indicates the number of reserved regular symbol determinations by the lighting state of these LEDs.

[0037] When a jackpot symbol is stopped and displayed on the first special symbol display 41 or the second special symbol display 42, the round indicator 47 displays the number of rounds indicating how many rounds will be played in the jackpot game that is played in response to the jackpot corresponding to the jackpot symbol. In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, there are cases where a jackpot game including three rounds is played and cases where a jackpot game including ten rounds is played. For this reason, in this embodiment, the round indicator 47 is configured to have a 3R LED and a 10R LED, and the number of rounds is notified by lighting up one of these LEDs.

[0038] The game status indicator 48 is composed of three LEDs indicated by "a1 to a3," and indicates the game status of the gaming machine 1 by the lighting state of these LEDs. The launch direction indicator 49 is composed of two LEDs indicated by "y to z," and indicates the launch direction of the gaming ball by the lighting state of these LEDs. In other words, it indicates whether the state is for a left hit or a right hit.

[0039] [Example of the configuration of the presentation means included in the gaming machine 1] 1 and 2, the game board 2 is provided with a decorative member 13, a movable decorative member 14, a performance indicator 125, a performance first special chart reserve indicator 126, a performance second special chart reserve indicator 127, etc., for performing various effects, and an image display device 7 is provided behind the game board 2. In addition, the front frame 31 is provided with a frame lamp 37, a speaker 38, a robot-type gimmick 15, etc., for performing various effects.

[0040] The decorative member 13 incorporates a panel lamp 5 (see FIG. 5) that is composed of multiple colored LEDs, and various light-based effects can be created by changing the lighting or blinking pattern of each LED or by changing the color of the light emitted by each LED.

[0041] The movable decorative member 14 is disposed in front of the display screen 70 of the image display device 7 and behind the decorative member 13. The movable decorative member 14 has a plurality of built-in color LEDs, and the movable decorative member 14 performs a predetermined performance by both or either of the movement of the movable decorative member 14 itself and the light. In this embodiment, a predetermined space in which the movable decorative member 14 can operate is provided between the game board 2 and the display screen 70, and the movable decorative member 14 is configured to be movable up and down along the display screen 70. The movable decorative member 14 is usually disposed in an initial position (see FIG. 2) in which most of it is hidden behind the decorative member 13 and only the lower end of the movable decorative member 14 is visible. In contrast, the movable decorative member 14 emits light in a predetermined light-emitting pattern and falls to an operating position that covers most of the display screen 70, for example, when a notice performance is performed using the display screen 70 or the speaker 38 to suggest that the reliability of a jackpot is relatively high.

[0042] The frame lamp 37 is composed of multiple LEDs built into various places in the front frame 31, and various light effects are created by changing the lighting or blinking pattern of each LED or by changing the light color of each LED.

[0043] The robot type gimmick 15 (an example of a "performance movable body") is provided in the front frame 31 at a position where it can be looked down upon by a seated player. Specifically, the robot type gimmick 15 is provided in the front frame 31 to the left of the first performance button 35 when the gaming machine 1 is viewed from the front, at the back of the upper tray 33. Since the robot type gimmick 15 is provided at the back of the upper tray 33, for example, when a player puts a game ball taken out of the lower tray 34 into the upper tray 33 or touches a game ball stored in the upper tray 33, the robot type gimmick 15 does not get in the way by touching the player's hand. This robot type gimmick 15 has multiple color LEDs built in, and the robot type gimmick 15 performs a predetermined performance by both or either of the movement and light of the robot type gimmick 15 itself. In this embodiment, the robot gimmick 15 is configured to be able to perform a swinging effect in which the upper body 151 (see FIG. 21) swings from left to right alternately while emitting light in a predetermined light-emitting pattern. This swinging effect will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 21 and the like.

[0044] The image display device 7 is a liquid crystal display device that displays an effect image on its display screen 70, and the player can view the display screen 70 through an opening formed in the center of the game board 2. This display screen 70 displays effect images including various display objects such as effect images that notify the judgment result of the special symbol judgment, characters and items, reserved images (reserved icons) displayed in the same number as the reserved number of the first special symbol judgment (or the second special symbol judgment), and change suggestion images (the icons) that suggest that the special symbol is being displayed in a variable manner. Note that the image display device 7 is not limited to a liquid crystal display device, and may be another image display device such as an EL display device, as long as it is capable of displaying effect images.

[0045] The speaker 38 outputs musical pieces, voices, sound effects, and other sound effects in synchronization with the display effects performed on the display screen 70 or asynchronously, to perform sound effects.

[0046] The effect display 125 is configured with two LEDs, and displays the patterns in a variable manner in accordance with the variable display of the special and effect patterns, and displays the patterns that notify the result of the special pattern determination in a static manner in accordance with the static display of the special and effect patterns. This effect display 125 notifies the result of the special pattern determination by the combination of the on / off of each LED and the lighting color.

[0047] The first special symbol reserved indicator 126 is configured with two LEDs, and by a combination of turning on and off each LED, it displays the reserved number of the first special symbol judgment, the same as that displayed on the first special symbol reserved indicator 44. The second special symbol reserved indicator 127 is configured with two LEDs, and by a combination of turning on and off each LED, it displays the reserved number of the second special symbol judgment, the same as that displayed on the second special symbol reserved indicator 45.

[0048] [Example of configuration of input means included in gaming machine 1] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the front frame 31 is provided with a first effect button 35 and a second effect button 36 as input means that can be input by the player. The first effect button 35 is a push button that the player presses to input operation information. The second effect button 36 is a push button that the player holds the grip of the second effect button 36 and presses the second effect button 36 to input operation information. In the gaming machine 1, effects may be performed in response to the operation of the first effect button 35 or the second effect button 36.

[0049] The configuration of the input means is not limited to the one exemplified in this embodiment, and may be other. That is, for example, in this embodiment, the gaming machine 1 is described as having two input means, but the number of input means may be one or three or more. Also, the input means is not limited to push buttons, and may be other input means such as a touch panel capable of detecting a touch operation by a player, an optical sensor capable of detecting a player's hand held over the display screen 70, a joystick that is moved back and forth and left and right to specify a position or direction, and an operation means that a player can hold and change the position.

[0050] [Example of the internal configuration of the second major prize slot 28] Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the opening and closing control of second large prize opening 28 and V prize opening 287. An opening member 29 for opening and closing second large prize opening 28 is provided at the opening of second large prize opening 28 (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 4(A)). Also, as illustrated in Figs. 4(A) to (C), a second large prize opening sensor 281, a V prize opening sensor 283, an outlet sensor 284, a slide member 285, etc. are provided inside second large prize opening 28.

[0051] The second large winning opening sensor 281 detects a game ball that has entered the second large winning opening 28, and in this embodiment, 10 prize balls are paid out each time a game ball passes through the second large winning opening sensor 281. The V winning opening sensor 283 detects the passage of a game ball through the V winning opening 287 partitioned by the V winning opening sensor 283. The discharge opening sensor 284 detects the passage of a game ball through the discharge opening partitioned by the discharge opening sensor 284. The sliding member 285 guides a game ball that has passed through the second large winning opening sensor 281 to the V winning opening 287 or the discharge opening, and is configured to be slidable in the left-right direction (width direction of the gaming machine 1) in FIG. 4. Figures 4(A) and (B) show an example of the slide member 285 positioned in the right position to block the V winning opening 287, and Figures 4(C) and (D) show an example of the slide member 285 positioned in the left position to open the V winning opening 287.

[0052] When no big win game is being played or during a long open round game in which the first large prize opening 26 is long open, the second large prize opening 28 is closed by the opening / closing member 29, and the V prize opening 287 is closed by the slide member 285 (see FIG. 4(A)). In contrast, in a round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened and closed, the second large prize opening 28 and the V prize opening 287 can be in the following states.

[0053] Specifically, in a round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened and closed, as illustrated in Figures 4(A) and (B), the opening and closing member 29 may rotate with the slide member 285 positioned at the right position to open the second large prize opening 28. In this case, since the second large prize opening 28 is open but the V prize opening 287 is still blocked by the slide member 285, even if a game ball enters the second large prize opening 28, the game ball will not pass through the V prize opening 287 but will pass through the discharge opening sensor 284.

[0054] In a round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened and closed, as illustrated in Fig. 4 (B) and (C), the slide member 285 may move from the right position to the left position while the second large prize opening 28 is left open, and the V prize opening 287 may be opened. In this case, since both the second large prize opening 28 and the V prize opening 287 are open, the game ball that enters the second large prize opening 28 passes through the V prize opening 287 (i.e., is detected by the V prize opening sensor 283).

[0055] The V winning port sensor 283 functions as a so-called probability variable switch, and as described above, when the game ball enters the V when both the second large winning port 28 and the V winning port 287 are in an open state (when the game ball is detected by the V winning port sensor 283), the game is controlled in a "probability variable game state" described later after the big win game in which this V winning occurred ends. On the other hand, when the game ball does not enter the V when both the second large winning port 28 and the V winning port 287 are in an open state, the game is controlled in a "time-saving game state" described later after the big win game ends.

[0056] In addition, in a round game in which the second large prize opening 28 is opened and closed, as illustrated in Fig. 4(D), the opening and closing member 29 is not operating, so the second large prize opening 28 is closed and in a closed state, and the slide member 285 moves from the right position to the left position and the V prize opening 287 is opened and in an open state. In this case, although the V prize opening 287 is open, the second large prize opening 28 is in an entry-difficult state, so that the game ball cannot enter the second large prize opening 28.

[0057] In addition, the letter "V" is written in a position corresponding to the V winning hole sensor 283 on the transparent member provided in a position corresponding to the area containing the second large winning hole sensor 281, the V winning hole sensor 283, the discharge hole sensor 284, the slide member 285, etc. (see FIG. 2). Therefore, the player can easily identify the position of the V winning hole sensor 283 (the position of the V winning hole 287) by looking at the letter "V".

[0058] [Configuration of the control device equipped in the gaming machine 1] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device provided in the gaming machine 1. As shown in FIG. A control device that controls the operation of the gaming machine 1 is provided on the back side of the gaming board 2. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the control device of the gaming machine 1 is composed of a main control board 80 that controls the progress of a game using a gaming ball, a sub-control board 90 that controls the overall presentation based on information from the main control board 80, an image and sound control board 100 that controls the presentation using images and sounds, a lamp control board 120 that controls the presentation using various lamps and movable members, and the like. In this embodiment, the main control board 80 functions as a game control unit that controls the progress of the game, and the sub-control board 90, the image and sound control board 100, and the lamp control board 120 function as a presentation control unit that controls the presentation. Note that the configuration of the control device is not limited to this, and for example, the sub-control board 90, the image and sound control board 100, and the lamp control board 120 may be composed of a single board.

[0059] <Configuration example of main control board 80> The main control board 80 includes a main CPU 81, a main ROM 82, and a main RAM 83. The main CPU 81 performs various arithmetic processing related to judgment and the number of prize balls to be paid out based on the programs stored in the main ROM 82. The main RAM 83 is used as a storage area for temporarily storing various data used when the main CPU 81 executes the programs, and as a working area for data processing, etc.

[0060] The main control board 80 is connected to the first start port sensor 211, the second start port sensor 221, the gate sensor 251, the first large prize port sensor 261, the second large prize port sensor 281, the V prize port sensor 283, the discharge port sensor 284, the general prize port sensor 241, the second start port solenoid 222, the first large prize port solenoid 262, the second large prize port solenoid 282, and the V prize port solenoid 286. Note that the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment is equipped with four general prize port sensors 241 corresponding to the four general prize ports 24, but in FIG. 5, for convenience of explanation, only one general prize port sensor 241 is shown.

[0061] The first start hole sensor 211 detects that a game ball has entered the first start hole 21 and outputs a detection signal to the main control board 80. The second start hole sensor 221 detects that a game ball has entered the second start hole 22 and outputs a detection signal to the main control board 80. The gate sensor 251 detects the passage of a game ball through the gate 25 and outputs a detection signal to the main control board 80. The first large prize hole sensor 261 detects that a game ball has entered the first large prize hole 26 and outputs a detection signal to the main control board 80. The second large prize hole sensor 281 detects that a game ball has entered the second large prize hole 28 and outputs a detection signal to the main control board 80. The V prize hole sensor 283 detects that a game ball has entered the V prize hole 287 and outputs a detection signal to the main control board 80. The outlet sensor 284 detects the passage of a gaming ball through the outlet and outputs a detection signal to the main control board 80. The general winning port sensor 241 detects that a gaming ball has entered the general winning port 24 and outputs a detection signal to the main control board 80.

[0062] The second start opening solenoid 222 is an electric solenoid connected to the opening / closing member 23 so as to be able to transmit a driving force, and operates the opening / closing member 23 based on a control signal from the main control board 80 to open and close the second start opening 22. The first large prize opening solenoid 262 is an electric solenoid connected to the opening / closing member 27 so as to be able to transmit a driving force, and operates the opening / closing member 27 based on a control signal from the main control board 80 to open and close the first large prize opening 26. The second large prize opening solenoid 282 is an electric solenoid connected to the opening / closing member 29 so as to be able to transmit a driving force, and operates the opening / closing member 29 based on a control signal from the main control board 80 to open and close the second large prize opening 28. The V prize opening solenoid 286 is an electric solenoid connected to the slide member 285 so as to be able to transmit a driving force, and operates the slide member 285 based on a control signal from the main control board 80 to open and close the V prize opening 287.

[0063] Although not shown in the figure, the gaming machine 1 is equipped with a payout control board that controls a drive motor that sends out gaming balls from a ball tank provided on the back side of the gaming board 2 to supply gaming balls to the upper tray 33 or the lower tray 34. When a detection signal is input from the first start hole sensor 211, the second start hole sensor 221, the first large prize hole sensor 261, the second large prize hole sensor 281, or the general prize hole sensor 241, the main CPU 81 instructs the payout control board to pay out a predetermined number of prize balls according to the location where the gaming ball has entered, and also manages the number of prize balls to be paid out based on information from the payout control board.

[0064] Moreover, the main CPU 81 acquires various random numbers as acquired information at the timing when a detection signal is input from the first start hole sensor 211, and executes a first special symbol determination using the acquired random numbers. Moreover, the main CPU 81 acquires various random numbers as acquired information at the timing when a detection signal is input from the second start hole sensor 221, and executes a second special symbol determination using the acquired random numbers. Here, the various random numbers are specifically a jackpot random number, a pattern random number, a reach random number, and a variation pattern random number.

[0065] The jackpot random number is a random number used to determine whether a jackpot is reached or not. The pattern random number is a random number used to determine the type of jackpot (such as the number of rounds of jackpot play and the game state after the jackpot play ends) when it is determined that there is a jackpot. The reach random number is a random number used to determine whether a reach effect or a no-reach effect will be performed when it is determined that there is a miss. The variation pattern random number is a random number used to determine the variation pattern of the special pattern when the special pattern is displayed in a varying manner.

[0066] The main CPU 81 acquires these random numbers at the timing when the game ball enters the first start hole 21 (or the second start hole 22), and first judges whether or not to execute a jackpot game based on whether or not the acquired jackpot random number matches a predetermined random number value (winning value) stored in the main ROM 82. Here, if it is judged that a jackpot game is to be executed based on the jackpot random number matching the winning value, the type of jackpot is determined based on which of the predetermined random number values ​​(compared with the pattern random number) stored in the main ROM 82 the symbol random number acquired together with the jackpot random number matches.

[0067] On the other hand, when the main CPU 81 judges not to execute a jackpot game based on the fact that the acquired jackpot random number does not match the winning value, the main CPU 81 decides whether to perform a reach effect or a reach-less effect based on whether the reach random number acquired together with the jackpot random number matches a predetermined random number value (compared with the reach random number) stored in the main ROM 82. Furthermore, the main CPU 81 decides the variation pattern of the special symbol when the special symbol is variably displayed based on the variation pattern random number acquired together with the jackpot random number, regardless of the result of the judgment based on the jackpot random number. This determines the variation time of the special symbol.

[0068] When the main CPU 81 determines that a jackpot game will be played and determines the type of jackpot, it controls the opening and closing of first large prize opening 26 (operation of opening / closing member 27) via first large prize opening solenoid 262, the opening and closing of second large prize opening 28 (operation of opening / closing member 29) via second large prize opening solenoid 282, and the opening and closing of V prize opening 287 (operation of slide member 285) via V prize opening solenoid 286, thereby playing a jackpot game according to the type of jackpot.

[0069] In addition, the main CPU 81 acquires a random number (normal symbol random number) at the timing when a detection signal is input from the gate sensor 251, and executes a normal symbol determination using the acquired normal symbol random number. Then, when it is determined that the second start hole 22 is to be opened as a result of this normal symbol determination, the main CPU 81 executes an auxiliary game to open the second start hole 22 by controlling the opening and closing of the second start hole 22 (the operation of the opening and closing member 23) via the second start hole solenoid 222.

[0070] In addition, a first special pattern display device 41, a second special pattern display device 42, a normal pattern display device 43, a first special pattern reserve display device 44, a second special pattern reserve display device 45, a normal pattern reserve display device 46, a round indicator 47, a game status indicator 48, and a launch direction indicator 49 are connected to the main control board 80.

[0071] The main CPU 81 controls these displays 41 to 49 constituting the main display 40 to execute the display process described above with reference to FIG.

[0072] <Configuration example of the sub-control board 90> The sub-control board 90 includes a sub-CPU 91, a sub-ROM 92, a sub-RAM 93, and an RTC (real-time clock) 94. The sub-CPU 91 performs calculations for controlling the performance based on the programs stored in the sub-ROM 92. The sub-RAM 93 is used as a storage area for temporarily storing various data used by the sub-CPU 91 when executing the programs, and as a working area for data processing, etc. The RTC 94 measures the current date and time (date and time).

[0073] A first performance button detection sensor 96 and a second performance button detection sensor 97 are connected to the sub-control board 90. When the first performance button 35 (see FIG. 1) is operated, the first performance button detection sensor 96 outputs operation information (operation signal) indicating that the first performance button 35 is operated to the sub-control board 90. When the second performance button 36 (see FIG. 1) is operated, the second performance button detection sensor 97 outputs operation information (operation signal) indicating that the second performance button 36 is operated to the sub-control board 90.

[0074] The sub-CPU 91 sets the content of the presentation based on game information related to special symbol determination, normal symbol determination, big win game, etc., transmitted from the main control board 80. At that time, there are also cases where the sub-CPU 91 accepts input of operation information from the first performance button 35 or the second performance button 36 and sets the content of the presentation according to the operation information. The sub-CPU 91 transmits commands to the image / sound control board 100 and the lamp control board 120 to instruct the execution of the presentation of the set content of the presentation.

[0075] <Configuration example of image and audio control board 100> The image and audio control board 100 controls image display by the image display device 7 and controls the output of effect sounds by the speaker 38. In this embodiment, the image and audio control board 100 includes an image and audio control CPU 101, a control ROM 102, a control RAM 103, a VDP (Video Display Processor) 104, a CGROM 105, a VRAM 106, an audio DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 107, an audio ROM 108, an SDRAM 109, and an amplifier 110.

[0076] The control ROM 102 is composed of a mask ROM, and stores the control program of the image / audio control CPU 101, a display list generation program for generating a display list, and various tables such as a display list creation table used in the process of creating a display list. Here, the display list is composed of a group of commands for instructing the execution of drawing on a frame-by-frame basis, and includes various parameters such as the type of image to be drawn, the position (coordinates) at which the image is drawn, the display priority, the display magnification, the rotation angle, the transparency, etc. The control RAM 103 is used as a storage area for temporarily storing various data used when the image / audio control CPU 101 executes the above control program, and as a working area for data processing, etc.

[0077] The image / audio control CPU 101 instructs the VDP 104 to display image data stored in the CGROM 105 on the image display device 7 based on the above control program, various tables such as the display list creation table, and commands received from the sub-control board 90. This instruction is mainly performed by outputting a display list. The image / audio control CPU 101 also instructs the audio DSP 107 to output audio data stored in the audio ROM 108 from the speaker 38.

[0078] The CGROM 105 stores performance data necessary for executing performances associated with the variable display of special symbols and performances associated with big win games. The CGROM 105 is composed of a flash memory, an EEPROM, an EPROM, a mask ROM, etc., and stores compressed sprite data (one piece of image data) consisting of a collection of pixel information in a predetermined range of pixels (e.g., 32 x 32 pixels), movie data consisting of a collection of multiple image data, etc. The pixel information is composed of color number information that specifies a color number for each pixel and an α value that indicates the transparency of the image. The CGROM 105 also stores, without compression, palette data in which color number information that specifies a color number is associated with display color information for actually displaying a color.

[0079] It is also possible to compress only a part of the image data stored in the CGROM 105. As a method for compressing movie data, various known compression methods such as MPEG4 can be used.

[0080] The VRAM 106 is composed of an SRAM that can write and read image data at high speed, and although not shown in the figure, it is composed of a display list storage area, a development storage area, a frame buffer, etc.

[0081] The display list storage area temporarily stores the display list output from the image / audio control CPU 101. The expansion storage area stores image data that has been read out from the CGROM 105 and then expanded. The frame buffer is a frame buffer that is used for both drawing and displaying image data to be displayed on the display screen 70.

[0082] The VDP 104 expands the image data stored in the compressed state in the CGROM 105 and stores the expanded image data in the expanded memory area. The VDP 104 also performs drawing processing on the frame buffer using the image data stored in the expanded memory area based on the display list stored in the display list memory area. The VDP 104 also generates RGB signals as video signals indicating the color of the image from the image data stored in the frame buffer and outputs the generated RGB signals to the image display device 7.

[0083] An audio ROM 108, an SDRAM 109, and an amplifier 110 are connected to the audio DSP 107. The audio ROM 108 stores various audio data related to music, voice, sound effects, warning sounds, etc. The SDRAM 109 is used as a work area for data processing by the audio DSP 107. The audio DSP 107 reads audio data corresponding to an instruction from the image audio control CPU 101 from the audio ROM 108 to the SDRAM 109, executes data processing, and outputs the processed audio data to the speaker 38 (via the amplifier 110). The amplifier 110 adjusts the volume according to an instruction related to the volume obtained from the image audio control CPU 101 via the audio DSP 107, and outputs the audio data to the speaker 38.

[0084] In this embodiment, the case where the VDP is responsible for drawing management and the audio DSP is responsible for sound management will be described, but in other embodiments, a configuration in which the VDP is responsible for both drawing management and sound management may be adopted. In this case, there is no need to provide a separate audio DSP.

[0085] <Configuration example of lamp control board 120> The lamp control board 120 includes a lamp CPU 121, a lamp ROM 122, and a lamp RAM 123, and is connected to the frame lamp 37, the panel lamp 5, the movable decorative member motor 141, the robot-type gimmick swing motor 154, the performance display 125, the performance first special chart reserve display 126, and the performance second special chart reserve display 127. The lamp ROM 122 stores a program executed by the lamp CPU 121, light emission pattern data, operation pattern data, and the like. Here, the light emission pattern data is data indicating the respective light emission patterns of the frame lamp 37, the panel lamp 5, the LEDs built into the movable decorative member 14, the LEDs built into the robot-type gimmick 15, and the like. The operation pattern data is data indicating the operation patterns of the movable decorative member 14, the robot-type gimmick 15, and the like, and a plurality of swing pattern data indicating swing patterns for swinging the robot-type gimmick 15 in various swing patterns is stored in the lamp ROM 122 as the operation pattern data of the robot-type gimmick 15.

[0086] The lamp CPU 121 performs calculations based on the program stored in the lamp ROM 122 to control the operation of the frame lamp 37, the panel lamp 5, the movable decorative member 14, the robot-type gimmick 15, the performance display 125, the performance first special chart hold display 126, the performance second special chart hold display 127, etc.

[0087] The lamp CPU 121 reads out, from among the light emission pattern data stored in the lamp ROM 122, light emission pattern data corresponding to the command received from the sub-control board 90 into the lamp RAM 123, and controls the light emission of the frame lamp 37, the panel lamp 5, the LEDs built into the movable decorative member 14, and the LEDs built into the robot-type gimmick 15. The lamp CPU 121 also reads out, from among the motion pattern data stored in the lamp ROM 122 (swing pattern data for the robot-type gimmick 15), the operation pattern data corresponding to the command received from the sub-control board 90 into the lamp RAM 123, and controls the driving of the movable decorative member motor 141 (in this embodiment, a stepping motor) that operates the movable decorative member 14 and the robot-type gimmick swing motor 154 (in this embodiment, a stepping motor) that operates the robot-type gimmick 15.

[0088] Also, the lamp CPU 121 controls the variable display and stop display of the symbols on the performance display device 125 based on commands from the sub-control board 90. Also, the lamp CPU 121 controls the display of the reserved number related to the first special symbol determination by the performance first special symbol reservation display device 126 and the display of the reserved number related to the second special symbol determination by the performance second special symbol reservation display device 127 based on commands from the sub-control board 90.

[0089] [About game status] Next, a description will be given of the gaming states of the gaming machine 1. In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, the game is controlled in one of three gaming states: a "normal gaming state", a "high probability gaming state", and a "time-saving gaming state".

[0090] The "normal game state" is a game state in which the special symbol determination is performed in a low probability state in which the probability of determining that a jackpot game will be executed is relatively low, and a support function (such as a function called "electric support") that supports the entry of a game ball into the second start hole 22 is not provided. In the normal game state, the probability of determining that a jackpot game will be executed by the special symbol determination is set to a relatively low probability (for example, 1 / 210) (see FIG. 6(A)). In addition, the probability of determining that the second start hole 22 will be opened by the normal symbol determination is set to a relatively low probability (for example, 1 / 11), the fluctuation time of the normal symbol is set to a relatively long time (for example, 20 seconds), and the opening time of the second start hole 22 when it is determined that the second start hole 22 will be opened is set to a relatively short time (for example, 0.1 seconds x 1 time).

[0091] The "probability change game state" is a game state in which the special symbol determination is performed in a high probability state in which the probability of determining that a jackpot game will be executed is relatively high, and the support function is given. That is, in the probability change game state, the probability of determining that a jackpot game will be executed by the special symbol determination is set to a relatively high probability (for example, 1 / 60) (see FIG. 6(A)). In addition, the probability of determining that the second start hole 22 will be opened by the normal symbol determination is set to a relatively high probability (for example, 11 / 11), the fluctuation time of the normal symbol is set to a relatively short time (for example, 1.5 seconds), and the opening time of the second start hole 22 when it is determined that the second start hole 22 will be opened is set to a relatively long time (for example, 1.5 seconds x 3 times).

[0092] The "time-saving game state" is a game state in which the special symbol determination is performed in the above-mentioned low probability state, and the electric chute support function is provided. That is, in the time-saving game state, the probability that a jackpot game is determined to be executed by the special symbol determination is set to a relatively low probability (e.g., 1 / 210). Also, the probability that the second start hole 12 is determined to be opened by the normal symbol determination is set to a relatively high probability (e.g., 11 / 11), the normal symbol fluctuation time is set to a relatively short time (e.g., 1.5 seconds), and the opening time of the second start hole 12 when it is determined to be opened is set to a relatively long time (e.g., 1.5 seconds x 3 times).

[0093] Comparing these game states with respect to the variation time of the special symbols, the variation time of the special symbols in the "probability variation game state" and the "time-saving game state" is likely to be set to a relatively short time compared to the variation time of the special symbols in the "normal game state". Note that the probability of determining that a special game will be executed (jackpot probability), the probability of determining that the second start hole 22 will be opened (winning probability of the normal symbol determination), the variation time of the normal symbols, and the opening time of the second start hole 22 shown in the explanation of each game state are merely examples, and it goes without saying that other probabilities and times may also be used.

[0094] In the following description, the state in which the support function is provided and therefore it is easy for the game ball to enter the second starting hole 22 is called a "high base state," and the state in which the support function is not provided and therefore it is difficult for the game ball to enter the second starting hole 22 is called a "low base state." In this embodiment, the "normal game state" corresponds to the low base state, and the "high probability game state" and the "time-saving game state" correspond to the high base state.

[0095] [Game flow] A game ball hit by a player with the right hand side will not enter the first starting hole 21, but may enter the second starting hole 22. However, in a low base state, the second starting hole 22 is difficult to open, and even if it does open, the opening time is short. For this reason, when the game is controlled in a low base state (which corresponds to the "normal game state" in this embodiment), the player will play by hitting with the left hand side, aiming at the first starting hole 21.

[0096] When a game ball hit from the left side enters the first starting hole 21 during normal game mode, a first special pattern determination is executed, and the first special pattern is displayed in a variable manner, and then a jackpot pattern or a losing pattern is displayed stationary as the first special pattern indicating the result of the first special pattern determination.

[0097] Here, if a losing symbol is displayed, the jackpot game will not be played and the game state will not change. On the other hand, if a jackpot symbol is displayed as the first special symbol, a jackpot game will be played for a predetermined number of rounds according to the jackpot symbol, and after the jackpot game ends, the game will be controlled in a "probable win game state" or a "time-saving game state."

[0098] In addition, when the game state transitions to the "probability change game state" or the "time-saving game state" due to the end of the big win game, that is, when the game state transitions from the low base state to the high base state, the above-mentioned support function that makes it easier for the game ball to enter the second start hole 22 makes it easier for the game ball to enter the second start hole 22 than the first start hole 21. Therefore, when the game is controlled in the high base state, the player plays the game by hitting the right side aiming at the second start hole 22. Also, when both the right to the first special symbol judgment and the right to the second special symbol judgment are reserved, the second special symbol judgment is executed in priority to the first special symbol judgment. Therefore, when the game is controlled in the probability change game state or the time-saving game state, the second special symbol judgment is basically executed.

[0099] When a jackpot symbol is displayed as the second special symbol in a probability variable game state or a time-limited game state, the game is basically controlled in the probability variable game state after the jackpot game ends, but the game may be controlled in the time-limited game state. On the other hand, if a jackpot cannot be won in the probability variable game state or the time-limited game state, the game state will be returned from the probability variable game state (or the time-limited game state) to the normal game state.

[0100] [About special pattern determination using random numbers] Next, the determination process using the jackpot random number and the pattern random number will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Here, Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the jackpot random number and the pattern random number. In the explanatory diagrams for each random number illustrated in Fig. 6 and subsequent figures, the possible range of the random number is set to a smaller range than the actual range in order to facilitate the explanation. In the gaming machine 1, when the gaming ball passes through the first start hole 21 (or the second start hole 22), acquired information such as the jackpot random number, the pattern random number, the reach random number, and the variation pattern random number is acquired.

[0101] <Processing based on jackpot random numbers> The jackpot random number illustrated in Figure 6 (A) is a random number used in the jackpot determination process (step S308 in Figure 30) for determining whether or not a jackpot game will be executed, and is set separately for each of a low probability state in which the probability of determining that a jackpot game will be executed is relatively low and a high probability state in which the probability of determining that a jackpot game will be executed is relatively high.

[0102] In this embodiment, four winning values ​​are stored in the main ROM 82 for the low probability state, and the main CPU 81 determines that a jackpot game will be executed if the acquired jackpot random number matches any of these four winning values ​​when the game is controlled in the low probability state (which corresponds to the "normal game state" and the "time-saving game state" in this embodiment). Also, fourteen winning values ​​are stored in the main ROM 82 for the high probability state (which corresponds to the "high probability game state" in this embodiment), and the main CPU 81 determines that a jackpot game will be executed if the acquired jackpot random number matches any of these 14 winning values ​​when the game is controlled in the high probability state.

[0103] In this embodiment, the jackpot random number can take 840 values ​​from "0" to "839" in both the low probability state and the high probability state (see FIG. 6(A)). Therefore, the jackpot probability in the low probability state is 1 / 210 (=4 / 840), and the jackpot probability in the high probability state is 1 / 60 (=14 / 840).

[0104] <Processing based on random numbers> When the main CPU 81 judges that a jackpot game is to be executed, the main CPU 81 determines the type of jackpot based on which random number value, among the random numbers preset for each type of jackpot, the symbol random number acquired together with the jackpot random number used in the judgment, matches. In other words, the main CPU 81 selects the first special symbol (or the second special symbol) to be stopped and displayed on the first special symbol display 41 (or the second special symbol display 42) as the jackpot symbol.

[0105] (Type of jackpot related to the first special pattern determination) As illustrated in FIG. 6(B), in this embodiment, there are two types of jackpots that can be won in response to a game ball entering the first starting hole 21 during normal game play: "3R Special A" and "3R Normal."

[0106] Here, the "3R special A" (see Figure 6 (B)) is a jackpot in which, in response to the jackpot pattern X1 being stopped and displayed on the first special pattern display 41, a jackpot game is executed which is made up of a total of three long opening round games, including one long opening round game (first round round game) in which the second large prize opening 28 is long opened, and two long opening round games (second and third round round games) in which the first large prize opening 26 is long opened.

[0107] When the "3R probability A" is won, both the second big prize opening 28 and the V prize opening 287 are opened long in the first round of round play. Therefore, the player can pass the game ball through the V prize opening 287 by simply hitting the right side, and if even one game ball is detected by the V prize opening sensor 283 during the first round of round play, the game will be controlled in the "probability game state" after the big win game ends.

[0108] In this embodiment, the number of times (ST times in FIG. 6(B)) in which the second special symbol determination (or the first special symbol determination) and the variable display of the second special symbol (or the first special symbol) are executed in the "variable symbol game state" after the end of the jackpot game related to "3R variable symbol A" is set to 100 times, and if no jackpot is determined during the game, the variable symbol game state continues until 100 special symbol determinations are executed. If all of these 100 special symbol determinations are misses, 100 time-saving games are granted thereafter. Here, "time-saving game" means a game including the second special symbol determination (or the first special symbol determination) executed in the "time-saving game state" and the variable display of the second special symbol (or the first special symbol) executed according to the special symbol determination.

[0109] On the other hand, "3R normal" (see FIG. 6(B)) is a jackpot consisting of three round games including one short-open round game (first round game) in which the second large prize winning port 28 is short-opened and two long-open round games (second and third round games) in which the first large prize winning port 26 is long-opened in response to the jackpot symbol X2 being stopped and displayed on the first special symbol display 41. When this "3R normal" is won, in the first round game, the game ball is not paid out because the second large prize winning port 28 is not basically entered. Therefore, when the "3R normal" is won, the number of long-open round games executed during the jackpot game is two, so the "3R normal" can be said to be a jackpot of two rounds in effect.

[0110] When the "3R normal" is won, a short-open round game in which the second large winning hole 28 is short-opened is executed as the first round of round play. Therefore, the game ball does not enter the V during the jackpot game related to the 3R normal, and after the jackpot game related to the "3R normal" ends, the game is controlled in the "time-saving game state". In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, the number of time-saving times for the "3R normal" is set to 100 times, and when the jackpot game is executed in response to the jackpot pattern X2 (informing that the "3R normal" has been won) being stopped and displayed on the first special pattern display 41, if the jackpot game is not judged to be a jackpot during the game, the game is controlled in the time-saving game state until 100 second special pattern judgments (or first special pattern judgments) are executed after the jackpot game ends.

[0111] In this way, a "3R special A" is a jackpot with a ST count of "100" and a time-saving count of "100" (the number of time-saving play), whereas a "3R normal" is a jackpot with a ST count of "0" and a time-saving count of "100" (see Figure 6(B)).

[0112] However, even if the player has acquired the right to control the game in the "probability change game state" after the end of the jackpot game by winning "3R probability change A", it is possible that the game ball is not detected by the V winning hole sensor 283 during the first round of round play due to ball clogging in the play area 3, for example. For this reason, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, even if such a situation occurs, in order to allow the player to easily aim for a jackpot after the end of the jackpot game, if the game ball does not enter the V during the first round of round play related to "3R probability change A", 100 time-saving games are granted after the end of the jackpot game. In other words, the game control is performed in the same way as after the end of the jackpot game related to "3R normal".

[0113] In this embodiment, when the result of the first special symbol determination in the normal game state is a jackpot, a random number value for determining the type of the jackpot is stored in the main ROM 82. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6B, 50 random number values ​​are stored for the "3R variable A" and 50 random number values ​​are stored for the "3R normal".

[0114] In this embodiment, the possible range of the pattern random number is set to 100 numbers from "0" to "99", and when a jackpot is determined based on the jackpot random number obtained in response to a gaming ball entering the first starting hole 21, the type of jackpot related to the first special pattern determination is selected as "3R special A" at a rate of 50% (=50 / 100×100), and "3R normal" at a rate of 50% (=50 / 100×100) (see FIG. 6(B)).

[0115] Therefore, when the result of the first special pattern determination is a jackpot, the probability that the jackpot pattern X1 indicating "3R special A" is stopped and displayed on the first special pattern display 41 and the probability that the jackpot pattern X2 indicating "3R normal" is stopped and displayed on the first special pattern display 41 are both 50%.

[0116] In this way, if the result of the first special pattern determination in the normal game state is "3R special A" or "3R normal," in either case, the high base state will be reached after the big win game ends, and the player will play by hitting to the right, aiming at gate 25 and second starting hole 22.

[0117] (Type of jackpot related to the second special pattern determination) As illustrated in FIG. 6(C), there are four types of jackpots related to the second special pattern determination that is executed in response to the game ball entering the second starting hole 22: "10R certainty A," "10R certainty B," "3R certainty B," and "3R certainty C."

[0118] Here, the "10R special A" (see Figure 6 (C)) is a jackpot in which, in response to the jackpot pattern Y1 being stopped and displayed on the second special pattern display 42, a jackpot game is executed which is made up of a total of 10 long opening round games, including one long opening round game (first round round game) in which the second large prize opening 28 (and the V prize opening 287) is long opened, and nine long opening round games (second to tenth round round games) in which the first large prize opening 26 is long opened.

[0119] "10R Probability Change B" (see Figure 6 (C)) is a jackpot in which, in response to the jackpot pattern Y2 being stopped and displayed on the second special pattern display 42, a jackpot game is executed consisting of a total of 10 long opening round games, including one long opening round game (first round round game) in which the second large prize winning port 28 (and the V prize winning port 287) is long opened, and nine long opening round games (second to tenth round round games) in which the first large prize winning port 26 is long opened, just like when "10R Probability Change A" is won.

[0120] On the other hand, if the player wins "3R Probability B", the second special symbol display 42 displays the jackpot symbol Y3, and if the player wins "3R Probability C", the second special symbol display 42 displays the jackpot symbol Y4 (see FIG. 6(C)). If the player wins "3R Probability B" or "3R Probability C", a total of three long opening round games are played, including one long opening round game (first round round game) in which the second large prize winning port 28 (and the V prize winning port 287) are long opened, and two long opening round games (second to third round round games) in which the first large prize winning port 26 is long opened, in the same manner as if the player won "3R Probability A" (see FIG. 6(B)).

[0121] In this way, in the case of winning "10R probability A", "10R probability B", "3R probability B", and "3R probability C", both the second prize winning hole 28 and the V prize winning hole 287 are opened for a long time during the first round of round play. Therefore, as long as the player hits the right during the first round of round play related to these jackpots, he or she can easily obtain the right to play in the "probability game state" after the jackpot game ends.

[0122] For these four types of jackpots related to the second special symbol judgment, the above-mentioned ST number of times and time-saving number of times are set as follows. That is, for "10R special symbol A" and "3R special symbol B", both the ST number of times and time-saving number of times are set to "100", and for "10R special symbol B" and "3R special symbol C", the ST number of times is set to "100" and the time-saving number of times is set to "0". Therefore, if "10R special symbol B" or "3R special symbol C" is won, if all 100 special symbol judgments after the end of the jackpot game are misses, the game state will be returned to "normal game state", whereas if "10R special symbol A" or "3R special symbol B" is won, if all 100 special symbol judgments after the end of the jackpot game are misses, the game state will be shifted from "special symbol game state" to "time-saving game state".

[0123] For this reason, it can be said that the probability of a player hitting a jackpot in a high base state is higher if he or she hits "10R special chance A" or "3R special chance B" than if he or she hits "10R special chance B" or "3R special chance C."

[0124] In this embodiment, when the result of the second special symbol determination is a jackpot, a random number value for determining the type of the jackpot is stored in the main ROM 82. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 6(C), 30 random number values ​​are stored for "10% probability A", 45 random number values ​​are stored for "10R% probability B", 10 random number values ​​are stored for "3% probability B", and 15 random number values ​​are stored for "3% probability C".

[0125] In this embodiment, the possible range of the pattern random number is set to 100 numbers from "0" to "99" as described above, and when a jackpot is determined based on the jackpot random number obtained in response to a game ball entering the second starting hole 21, the type of jackpot related to the second special pattern determination is "10R certain jackpot A" selected at a rate of 30% (=30 / 100×100), "10R certain jackpot B" selected at a rate of 45% (=45 / 100×100), "3R certain jackpot B" selected at a rate of 10% (=10 / 100×100), and "3R certain jackpot C" selected at a rate of 15% (=15 / 100×100) (see FIG. 6(C)).

[0126] Therefore, when the result of the second special pattern determination is a jackpot, the probability that the jackpot pattern Y1 indicating "10R certain probability A" will be displayed stopped on the second special pattern display 42 is 30%, the probability that the jackpot pattern Y2 indicating "10R certain probability B" will be displayed stopped on the second special pattern display 42 is 45%, the probability that the jackpot pattern Y3 indicating "3R certain probability B" will be displayed stopped on the second special pattern display 42 is 10%, and the probability that the jackpot pattern Y4 indicating "3R certain probability C" will be displayed stopped on the second special pattern display 42 is 15%.

[0127] <Processing based on reach random numbers> When the main CPU 81 judges not to execute a jackpot game, it decides whether to execute a reach-enabled presentation or a no-reach presentation based on whether the reach random number acquired together with the jackpot random number used in the judgment matches with a random number corresponding to a reach-enabled presentation or a no-reach presentation.

[0128] Although not shown in the figure, in this embodiment, 10 random number values ​​are stored in the main ROM 82 for the reach-enabled effects, and the main CPU 81 determines to perform the reach-enabled effects when the acquired reach random number matches any of the 10 random number values. Also, 90 random number values ​​are stored for the non-reach effects, and the main CPU 81 determines to perform the non-reach effects when the acquired reach random number matches any of the 90 random number values. In this embodiment, the possible range of the reach random number is set to "0" to "99", and when it is determined that a jackpot game is not to be played, the probability that the reach effects are performed is 10% (=10 / 100×100), and the probability that the reach effects are not performed (the probability that the non-reach effects are performed) is 90% (=90 / 100×100).

[0129] When the main CPU 81 determines to perform a reach-with-effect performance, it selects, as the special symbol variation pattern, a variation pattern in which a variation pattern of a performance symbol accompanied by a reach-with effect is selected by the sub-control board 90. Conversely, when it determines to perform a non-reach-without-reach performance, it selects, as the special symbol variation pattern, a variation pattern in which a variation pattern of a performance symbol not accompanied by a reach-with effect is selected by the sub-control board 90.

[0130] [About the game flow] Next, the flow of the game will be described with reference to FIG. 7. Here, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the flow of the game in the gaming machine 1. Due to the board configuration of the game board 2, the game ball shot into the left game area 3L can win the first start hole 21, while the game ball shot into the right game area 3R cannot win the first start hole 21. Also, in the normal game state, the second start hole 22 is unlikely to be in an open state, and even if it is in an open state, the opening time of the second start hole 22 is extremely short, and the possibility of the game ball winning the second start hole 22 is extremely low. Therefore, there is no advantage for the player to hit the right in the normal game state. As is clear from these, the normal game state is a left-side advantageous state in which it is easier to hit a jackpot by shooting a game ball into the left game area 3L than by shooting it into the right game area 3R (special pattern determination is easier to be executed). For this reason, the player hits the left in the normal game state.

[0131] When a game ball shot from the left side enters the first starting hole 21 during normal game play, a first special symbol determination is executed, and after the first special symbol is variably displayed on the first special symbol display 41, the first special symbol indicating the result of the first special symbol determination is displayed as a stopped symbol. Here, if the result of the first special symbol determination is a "miss", a stop symbol is displayed as the first special symbol. On the other hand, if the result of the first special symbol determination is a "jackpot", one of the jackpot symbols X1 to X2 (see FIG. 6(B)) is displayed as a stopped jackpot symbol, and a jackpot game corresponding to the stopped jackpot symbol is executed. These jackpot games are as described above with reference to FIG. 6(B).

[0132] When the result of the first special pattern determination in the normal game state is a "jackpot," there are times when a jackpot pattern indicating a special jackpot (jackpot pattern X1: see FIG. 6(B)) is displayed stopped (see FIG. 7(A)), and times when a jackpot pattern indicating a normal jackpot (jackpot pattern X2: see FIG. 6(B)) is displayed stopped (see FIG. 7(D)).

[0133] Here, when the jackpot symbol X1 that notifies the probability of a jackpot is stopped and displayed, the jackpot game described above is executed based on Fig. 6(B). When this jackpot game is executed, the game is controlled in the probability game state after the jackpot game ends, on the condition that the game ball enters the V during the long opening round game (during the first round game) in which the second large winning hole 28 and the V winning hole 287 are long opened (see Fig. 7(B)). As described above, this probability game state continues until 100 special symbol judgments (and the variable display of the special symbol) are performed, unless a jackpot is judged during the process. On the other hand, even if a jackpot game including the above-mentioned long open round game is executed, if the game ball does not enter the V due to, for example, ball clogging in the game area 3, after the jackpot game ends, the game is controlled in a time-saving game state that can continue until the second special pattern determination (or the first special pattern determination) is executed 100 times (see Figure 7 (C)).

[0134] Here, in the probability variation game state, the winning probability of the normal symbol judgment, which is performed on the condition that the game ball passes through the gate 25, is set to a relatively high probability (11 / 11 in this embodiment), and the opening time of the second starting hole 22 in the case of winning the normal symbol judgment is set to a relatively long time (1.5 seconds x 3 times in this embodiment). Therefore, the probability variation game state is a right-side advantageous state in which it is easier to hit a jackpot by shooting the game ball into the right game area 3R than by shooting it into the left game area 3L (special symbol judgment is easier to execute). Therefore, when the game is controlled in the probability variation game state, the player hits from the right. This is also the case when the game is controlled in the time-saving game state, which is a high base state like the probability variation game state.

[0135] When the game is controlled in the probability variable game state, if the game ball hit from the right enters the second starting hole 22, the second special symbol determination is executed, and the second special symbol is variably displayed on the second special symbol display 42, and then the second special symbol indicating the determination result of the second special symbol determination is displayed as a stopped symbol. Here, if the determination result of the second special symbol determination is "miss", a missing symbol is displayed as a stopped symbol as the second special symbol. On the other hand, if the determination result of the second special symbol determination is "jackpot", one of the jackpot symbols Y1 to Y4 (see FIG. 6(C)) is displayed as a stopped symbol for the probability variable jackpot (see FIG. 7(F)), and the jackpot game corresponding to the stopped jackpot symbol is executed. Here, if the game ball enters the V during the jackpot game, the game will be controlled again in the special bonus game state after the jackpot game ends (see Figure 7(B)), and if the game ball does not enter the V during the jackpot game, the game will be controlled in the time-saving game state after the jackpot game ends (see Figure 7(C)).

[0136] In addition, when the game is controlled in the time-saving game state, if the game ball hit from the right enters the second starting hole 22, the second special symbol determination is executed, and the second special symbol is variably displayed on the second special symbol display 42, and then the second special symbol indicating the determination result of the second special symbol determination is displayed as a stopped symbol. Here, if the determination result of the second special symbol determination is "miss", a missing symbol is displayed as a stopped symbol as the second special symbol. On the other hand, if the determination result of the second special symbol determination is "jackpot", one of the jackpot symbols Y1 to Y4 (see FIG. 6(C)) is displayed as a stopped symbol for the probability jackpot (see FIG. 7(I)), and a jackpot game corresponding to the stopped jackpot symbol is executed. Here, if the game ball enters the V during the jackpot game, the game will be controlled in a guaranteed bonus game state after the jackpot game ends (see Figure 7(J)), and if the game ball does not enter the V during the jackpot game, the game will be controlled again in a time-limited game state after the jackpot game ends (see Figure 7(K)).

[0137] In addition, if no jackpot is determined to be a jackpot during the time-saving game state, which continues until 100 special pattern determinations (and changing display of special patterns) have been made, the game state will be returned from the time-saving game state to the normal game state (see Figure 7 (L)).

[0138] As described above based on Fig. 6(C), the jackpot related to the second special symbol determination includes "10R special symbol A" and "3R special symbol B", which are given 100 times of time-saving play after 100 times of special symbol play, and "10R special symbol B" and "3R special symbol C", which are not given time-saving play after 100 times of special symbol play. Therefore, if the game transitions to a special symbol play state upon the end of a jackpot game related to "10R special symbol A" or "3R special symbol B", if no jackpot is determined until 100 times of special symbol determination (and the special symbol variation display) are performed, the game transitions to a time-saving play state that continues until 100 times of time-saving play are performed (see Fig. 7(H)). On the other hand, when the game transitions to the special probability game state following the end of the jackpot game related to "10R special probability B" or "3R special probability C", if no jackpot is determined even once until 100 special pattern determinations (and changing display of special patterns) are performed, the game state will be returned from the special probability game state to the normal game state (see Figure 7 (G)).

[0139] [About the changing effects] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, various effects are performed on the display screen 70 as the first special pattern (or second special pattern) is displayed in a changing manner and then stopped. Here, we will explain the changing effects performed on the display screen 70 as the first special pattern is displayed in a changing manner.

[0140] In the gaming machine 1, when a game ball enters the first starting hole 21 and a first special symbol determination is executed, the first special symbol is displayed variably on the first special symbol display 41, and then the first special symbol indicating the determination result of the first special symbol determination is displayed stationary. The display screen 70 is provided with a performance symbol display area 73 (see FIG. 2) in which a performance symbol notifying the determination result of the first special symbol determination (or the second special symbol determination) is displayed, and the display screen 70 performs a variable performance including a variable display of the performance symbol in association with the variable display of the first special symbol (see FIG. 2). Then, when the first special symbol is displayed variably for a variable time according to the variable pattern selected when the first special symbol determination is executed, the performance symbol is displayed stationary in a manner indicating the determination result of the first special symbol determination in association with the first special symbol being displayed stationary.

[0141] During such a variable display of the performance symbols, a so-called reach performance may be performed. Specifically, in the performance symbol display area 73 of the display screen 70, for example, three horizontal rows of a part of the pattern row of the performance symbols in which the numbers 1 to 9 are written vertically from bottom to top are displayed, and when the variable display of the first special symbol is started, these pattern rows are displayed (scrolled) to scroll from top to bottom. On the other hand, when the reach performance is performed, before all the performance symbols are stopped and displayed, first, for example, the performance symbols in the left row (left pattern) and the performance symbols in the right row (right pattern) are pseudo-stopped in order or simultaneously so as not to stop completely. FIG. 2 illustrates a state in which three symbols are pseudo-stopped as the left pattern and three symbols are pseudo-stopped as the right pattern, and the pattern row in the middle row continues to be scrolled. In addition, a pseudo stop is a performance in which the performance pattern sways in place with almost no movement, and in the following explanation, it may be called a pseudo stop to distinguish it from a real stop (which may simply be called a "stop display") in which the performance pattern comes to a complete stop.

[0142] When the same effect symbols as the left and right symbols stop pseudo-on the winning line, a reach is established, and a reach effect is performed, in which the player hopes that three identical effect symbols will line up. This reach effect is an effect in which the reach symbols (left and right symbols) are pseudo-stopped, and the effect symbols (middle symbols) that make up the middle row of symbols are scrolled at a slow speed so that the player can identify them, and finally, a middle symbol that is common to the reach symbol or a middle symbol that is different from the reach symbol stops on the winning line to notify the player of the result.

[0143] Although detailed explanations are omitted, in addition to the performance symbols, other display objects such as characters and items are used in such reach performances. In the following explanation, in the variable performance in which the reach performance is performed, the performance performed before the reach is established may be called the "pre-reach performance."

[0144] The types of reach effects will be described in detail later, but when the result of the first special symbol determination is "miss," three effect symbols showing reach miss numbers (e.g., "323") are pseudo-stopped to notify a miss, and these three effect symbols are stopped as the miss symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol. On the other hand, when the reach effect is not performed, three effect symbols showing a scatter pattern (e.g., "629") are pseudo-stopped to notify a miss, and these three effect symbols are stopped as the miss symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol. In this way, when it is determined that a jackpot game is not to be played, a miss notification effect is executed in which the three effect symbols are pseudo-stopped with reach miss numbers or scatter patterns showing a miss, and then stopped as a miss, to notify a miss (a jackpot game is not being played).

[0145] When this miss notification effect is executed, the jackpot game is not executed, and if the right to determine the first special pattern is reserved, the first special pattern and the effect pattern are displayed statically for a predetermined fixed time (for example, 0.5 seconds), after which the reserved first special pattern determination is made, and the varying display of the first special pattern corresponding to this determination begins.

[0146] On the other hand, when the result of the first special symbol determination is "jackpot," a reach effect is usually executed during the variable display of the first special symbol, and three effect symbols showing a repeat number (for example, "333") are pseudo-stopped to notify a jackpot, and these three effect symbols are stopped for real as the jackpot symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol. In this way, when it is determined that a jackpot game is to be executed, a win notification effect is executed in which the three effect symbols are pseudo-stopped in a manner indicating a jackpot and then stopped for real to notify a jackpot (that a jackpot game is being executed). When this win notification effect is executed, a jackpot game is executed.

[0147] [Screen configuration of display screen 70] 2 illustrates an example of the screen configuration of the display screen 70 in the normal game state. When the game is controlled in the normal game state, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a reserved icon display area 71, the icon display area 72, and a performance pattern display area 73 are formed on the display screen 70. As described above, the performance pattern display area 73 is a display area in which the left pattern constituting the left pattern row, the middle pattern constituting the middle pattern row, and the right pattern constituting the right pattern row are displayed.

[0148] <Pending icon display area 71> The reserved icon display area 71 is a display area where a reserved icon indicating that the first special symbol determination is reserved is displayed. In the gaming machine 1, when a game ball enters the first start hole 21 in a situation where the special symbol determination and the special symbol variable display cannot be started immediately, such as during the variable display of the special symbol or during a big win game, the right to the first special symbol determination is reserved up to a predetermined number (four in this embodiment).

[0149] In this way, when the right to the first special symbol determination is reserved, the reserved icon display area 71 displays the same number of reserved icons as the number of reserved first special symbol determinations indicated by the first special symbol reservation indicator 44. FIG. 2 illustrates a state in which two reserved icons are displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 to indicate that the number of reserved first special symbol determinations is "2".

[0150] In addition, if the reserved icon is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 when a highly reliable reach performance such as an SPSP reach described later is being performed, not only is the display area used for the reach performance limited, but the display of the reserved icon may also reduce the interest of the reach performance. For this reason, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, the display object (in this embodiment, the base of the reserved icon) and the reserved icon constituting the reserved icon display area 71 are displayed during a normal reach or SP reach, while as the reach performance progresses from a normal reach or SP reach to an SPSP reach, the display object and the reserved icon constituting the reserved icon display area 71 are erased from the display screen 70, and after the SPSP reach is ended, the display object and the reserved icon constituting the reserved icon display area 71 are displayed again.

[0151] Also, when the game is controlled in the normal game state, basically, no game ball will enter the second starting hole 22. Therefore, in the normal game state, basically, the right to judge the second special symbol is not reserved, and the reserved icon related to the second special symbol judgment is not displayed on the display screen 70, and a display area for displaying this reserved icon is not formed.

[0152] <Icon display area 72> The icon display area 72 is a display area that displays the icon as a variation suggesting image that suggests that the first special symbol is being displayed in a variable manner. The icon is displayed in the icon display area 72 with the start of the variable display of the first special symbol, and is erased from the icon display area 72, for example, at the timing when the first special symbol is stopped and displayed. However, the timing of erasing the icon is not limited to this, and the icon may be erased during the variable display of the first special symbol, for example, the icon may be erased during the development of an SPSP reach, which will be described later, or in the middle of an SPSP reach.

[0153] Incidentally, when a game ball enters the first starting hole 21 in a state where the variable display of the special symbol is not being performed and the right to judge the special symbol is not reserved, the icon is displayed in the icon display area 72 as the variable display of the first special symbol begins. On the other hand, when the variable display of the symbol corresponding to the reserved icon displayed in the icon display area 72 ends in a state where the reserved icon is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71, the first special symbol judgment corresponding to the reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 (the reserved icon displayed in the position closest to the icon display area 72) is executed. Then, as the variable display of the first special symbol begins in response to the execution of this first special symbol judgment, the most reserved icon is shifted from the reserved icon display area 71 to the icon display area 72 and is displayed as the new icon. In this way, the reserved icon (here, the icon) shifted to the icon display area 72 is displayed larger than when it was displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 (see FIG. 2). Therefore, it is possible to draw the player's attention to the icon displayed in the icon display area 72 rather than the reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71.

[0154] In addition, if a reserved icon other than the most recent reserved icon is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71, as the most recent reserved icon shifts to the icon display area 72, the other reserved icons in the reserved icon display area 71 shift toward the icon display area 72. As is clear from the explanation so far, in the gaming machine 1, an icon corresponding to the reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 may be displayed in the icon display area 72, so in the following explanation, when there is no need to distinguish between the reserved icon and the icon, they may be collectively referred to simply as "icons."

[0155] (About the icon change effect) By the way, the reserved icon is usually displayed as a white reserved icon (default reserved icon). In contrast, when a reserved icon is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71, an icon change effect may be performed in which the color of the reserved icon changes. When this icon change effect is performed, the white reserved icon changes to a reserved icon of a color that suggests the reliability of a jackpot, such as blue, green, or red. The colors that suggest the reliability of a jackpot, as exemplified here, are arranged in order from low to high reliability of a jackpot. Red is likely to be selected when the judgment result of the first special pattern judgment corresponding to the red reserved icon is a "jackpot" or when the variation time of the special pattern is set to a relatively long time even if the result is a "miss". Green is likely to be selected when the variation time of the special pattern is set to a medium time even if the result is a "jackpot" or a "miss". Blue is likely to be selected when the result is a "miss" or when the result is a "miss" and the variation time of the special pattern is set to a relatively short time. In this embodiment, the jackpot reliability of a white reserved icon is set to approximately 1%, the jackpot reliability of a blue reserved icon is set to approximately 3%, the jackpot reliability of a green reserved icon is set to approximately 15%, and the jackpot reliability of a red reserved icon is set to approximately 45%.

[0156] Here, an example has been described in which the reserved icon changes color only once when the reserved icon is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71, but in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, other icon change effects may be performed. That is, for example, when a white reserved icon is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71, the icon change effect may be performed in which the display color of the reserved icon changes multiple times, such as changing to a blue reserved icon and then to a green reserved icon. Also, when a white reserved icon that has shifted from the reserved icon display area 71 to the icon display area 72 is displayed as the icon, an icon change effect may be performed in which the display color of the reserved icon changes.

[0157] In addition, there may be cases where an icon change effect is performed in which the display color of the reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 changes, and then the display color of the reserved icon changes when it shifts to the icon display area 72 and is displayed as the icon, in other words, an icon change effect is performed in which the reserved icon is initially displayed in a display color other than white (e.g., blue), or an icon change effect is performed in which the display color of a reserved icon whose initial color is other than white is changed.

[0158] In this way, the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment can display on the display screen 70 reserved information indicating that the right to judge a special symbol is reserved, and can change the display mode of the reserved information. In the following description, a reserved icon or icon whose display color is a color other than white may be called a "special icon" to distinguish it from a normal reserved icon or icon whose display color is white.

[0159] [Modification regarding display control of pending information] The display control of the reserved information is not limited to the one exemplified in this embodiment, and may be as follows. That is, in this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the display color of the icon (reserved icon and the icon) is four colors, white, blue, green, and red, but in other embodiments, other colors such as gold, which suggests a higher probability of a jackpot than red, or rainbow colors, which are selected only when a "jackpot" occurs, may be prepared.

[0160] In addition, in this embodiment, an example is described in which an icon change effect is performed to change the display color of an icon (a pending icon or the icon in question). However, the icon change effect is not limited to the effect exemplified in this embodiment as long as it changes the display mode of the icon, and may be an icon change effect that changes the shape or size of the icon, an icon change effect that changes the display color in addition to the shape and size of the icon, etc.

[0161] In addition, in this embodiment, in addition to the icon change performance targeting the pending icon displayed in the pending icon display area 71, a case is described in which it is possible to execute an icon change performance targeting the icon displayed in the icon display area 72. However, in other embodiments, a configuration may be adopted in which only the former icon change performance can be executed without providing the icon display area 72 (without displaying the icon).

[0162] In this embodiment, a case will be described in which a reserved icon is displayed as reserved information on the display screen 70 and the display color of the reserved icon is changed. In contrast, in other embodiments, for example, four color LEDs with changeable light emission colors may be provided, and the same number of LEDs as the reserved number of the first special symbol determination may be lit, and the display mode of the reserved information may be changed by changing the light emission color of one of the LEDs.

[0163] [About advance judgment processing] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when the right to the first special symbol determination (or the second special symbol determination) is reserved, a pre-determination process may be performed to determine whether or not a jackpot game will be executed before the first special symbol determination (or the second special symbol determination) is executed for that right. For example, when a game ball enters the first start hole 21 during the variable display of the first special symbol in the normal game state, the main CPU 81 acquires acquired information such as a jackpot random number in response to the game ball entering the first start hole 21, and performs a similar jackpot determination process based on the acquired jackpot random number prior to the jackpot determination process (see step S308 in FIG. 30) in the first special symbol determination performed at the start of the variable display of the first special symbol, and determines in advance whether or not a "jackpot" will be determined when the first special symbol determination is executed. In addition, based on the fluctuation pattern random number obtained together with the jackpot random number, a process similar to the fluctuation pattern selection process in step S309 of Figure 30 is performed to determine in advance which fluctuation pattern will be selected when the first special pattern determination is executed.

[0164] In this way, when the main CPU81 performs a pre-determination process in response to the reservation of the right to determine the first special symbol, the main CPU81 transmits a reservation command including pre-determination information indicating the result of the pre-determination to the sub-control board 90. In response to this, the sub-CPU91 executes a look-ahead performance that makes the player expect that a winning notification performance will be executed as a result of the variable display of the first special symbol that is executed in response to the execution of the reserved first special symbol determination, based on the pre-determination information included in the reservation command.

[0165] The above-mentioned icon change performance is an example of this look-ahead performance. When the sub-CPU 91 receives a pending command including advance judgment information from the main control board 80, it decides whether or not to execute the icon change performance based on the advance judgment information. Then, when it decides to execute the icon change performance, it decides in what change pattern to change the display mode (icon color, etc.) of the icon (reserved icon or the icon in question) and causes the image and sound control board 100 to execute the icon change performance based on the decision result.

[0166] In addition to the icon change effect, the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment can execute various pre-reading effects such as a weak chance eye effect (see Figure 8(C)), a first performance pattern attention effect (see Figure 8(D)), a strong chance eye effect (see Figure 8(E)), a second performance pattern attention effect (see Figure 8(F)), and a pre-swing effect (see Figure 22(B)), but these pre-reading effects will be described in detail later.

[0167] [Main flow of effects during normal gameplay] Next, the flow of the main presentation in the normal game state will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Here, Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the flow of the main presentation in the normal game state. Note that "pre-reading target change" in Fig. 8 means the change display of the first special symbol (and presentation symbol) that is performed in response to the execution of the first special symbol determination that was the subject of the advance determination process, and "pre-target change" means the change display of the first special symbol (and presentation symbol) that is performed before the pre-reading target change.

[0168] (Pre-target variation) First, as a "pre-target variation", the first special symbol and the performance symbol start to be displayed (see FIG. 8(A)). Specifically, as the first special symbol starts to be displayed, the display screen 70 starts to scroll three symbol rows in the performance symbol display area 73 (see FIG. 2). Here, if the result of the first special symbol determination executed by the main CPU 81 at the start of the pre-target variation is "miss" and a variation pattern in which a "no-reach performance" is performed is selected as the variation pattern of the first special symbol, at least three performance symbols with different left and right symbols (for example, three performance symbols of "436") are pseudo-stopped at the end of the first special symbol variation display, and as a miss symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol, a no-reach miss notification performance in which the above three performance symbols are stopped as they are may be executed (see FIG. 8(B)).

[0169] The sub-CPU91 executes various pre-reading effects by using the symbol fluctuation in which such a reach-free fluctuation effect is executed as a "target pre-reading effect". In the example shown in Fig. 8, the sub-CPU91 executes a weak chance eye effect (see Fig. 8(C)) and a first effect symbol attention effect (see Fig. 8(D)) in the "target pre-reading effect" based on the advance determination result related to the "pre-reading target fluctuation".

[0170] (Weak chance effect) The weak chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(C)) is an effect in which three effect symbols representing a weak chance eye including two first effect symbols are pseudo-stopped during the display of the first special symbol related to the target pre-variation in which the reach effect is not performed. The first effect symbol in this embodiment is an even number symbol, and examples of the weak chance eye include "221", "443", and "889" which are composed of two even number symbols and one odd number symbol. FIG. 12(C) illustrates an example of a weak chance eye effect in which a weak chance eye of "443" composed of two 4 symbols and one 3 symbol is displayed. The combination of three effect symbols representing a weak chance eye is merely an example, and in other embodiments, a configuration different from this embodiment may be adopted, such as displaying three even number symbols as a weak chance eye.

[0171] (First performance design noteworthy performance) The first performance symbol attention performance (an example of "another attention performance": see FIG. 8(D)) is a performance that draws attention to the first performance symbol (even number symbol in this embodiment) when the reach performance is not being performed, and FIG. 12(D) shows an example in which the left 4 symbol and the middle 4 symbol displayed in the weak chance eye performance of FIG. 12(C) are enlarged, and blue rain falls from rain clouds on the left 4 symbol and the middle 4 symbol, thereby increasing the attention level of these two 4 symbols. When this first performance symbol attention performance is performed, a sound effect for the first performance symbol attention performance is output from the speaker 38. In this way, in the first performance symbol attention performance in this embodiment, a performance display showing the blue rain falling on the left 4 symbol and the middle 4 symbol is performed, so that the player's gaze can be guided to the left 4 symbol and the middle 4 symbol, and it is possible to effectively increase the attention level of the left 4 symbol and the middle 4 symbol.

[0172] In this embodiment, the number of first performance symbols to be focused on by the player is two, but the number of first performance symbols to be focused on is not limited to two, and may be one or three. The first performance symbols are not limited to even-numbered symbols, and may be odd-numbered symbols. In this embodiment, the weak chance eye performance and the first performance symbol attention performance are performed in sequence, but these performances may be performed simultaneously. Also, a configuration different from this embodiment may be adopted, such as performing the first performance symbol attention performance when the weak chance eye performance is not performed (for example, when the first performance symbol is displayed without a reach in the pre-reading target variation).

[0173] On the other hand, the sub-CPU91 may execute a strong chance eye effect (see Figure 8(E)) and a second effect pattern attention effect (see Figure 8(F)) in the "pre-target change" based on the results of a pre-judgment regarding the "pre-read target change."

[0174] (Strong chance effect) The strong chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(E)) is an effect in which three effect symbols representing a strong chance eye including two second effect symbols are pseudo-stopped during the display of the first special symbol related to the target pre-variation in which the reach effect is not performed. The second effect symbols in this embodiment are odd-numbered symbols, and examples of the strong chance eye include "334", "556", and "776" which are composed of two odd-numbered symbols and one even-numbered symbol. FIG. 12(G) illustrates an example of a strong chance eye effect in which a strong chance eye of "776" composed of two 7 symbols and one 6 symbol is displayed. The combination of three effect symbols representing a strong chance eye is merely an example, and in other embodiments, a configuration different from this embodiment may be adopted, such as displaying three odd-numbered symbols as weak chance eyes.

[0175] (Second performance design noteworthy performance) The second performance symbol attention performance (an example of "another attention performance": see FIG. 8(F)) is a performance that draws attention to the second performance symbol (in this embodiment, an odd number symbol) when the reach performance is not being performed, and FIG. 12(H) illustrates an example in which the left 7 symbol and the middle 7 symbol displayed in the strong chance eye performance of FIG. 12(G) are enlarged, and the left 7 symbol and the middle 7 symbol are directly struck by red lightning, thereby increasing the attention level of these two 7 symbols. When this second performance symbol attention performance is performed, a sound effect for the second performance symbol attention performance is output from the speaker 38. In this way, in the second performance symbol attention performance in this embodiment, a performance display is performed that shows the left 7 symbol and the middle 7 symbol being directly struck by red lightning, so that the player's gaze can be guided to the left 7 symbol and the middle 7 symbol, and it is possible to effectively increase the attention level of the left 7 symbol and the middle 7 symbol.

[0176] Here, comparing the performance image used in the first performance pattern attention performance with the performance image used in the second performance pattern attention performance, the first performance pattern attention performance (see FIG. 12(D)) uses a performance image showing rain clouds and blue rain, whereas the second performance pattern attention performance (see FIG. 12(H)) uses a performance image showing a red lightning strike. Thus, the second performance pattern attention performance uses a performance image with a more noticeable color than the performance image used in the first performance pattern attention performance, so when comparing these performance pattern attention performances, it can be said that the second performance pattern attention performance has a higher effect of drawing attention to the left and center patterns than the first performance pattern attention performance.

[0177] In this embodiment, the number of the second performance symbols to be focused on by the player is two, but the number of the second performance symbols to be focused on is not limited to two, and may be one or three. The second performance symbols are not limited to odd-numbered symbols, and for example, only a specific symbol (e.g., 7 symbol) among the odd-numbered symbols may be focused on as the second performance symbol. In this embodiment, the strong chance eye effect and the second performance symbol attention effect are performed in sequence, but these effects may be performed simultaneously. Also, a configuration different from this embodiment may be adopted, such as performing the second performance symbol attention effect when the strong chance eye effect is not performed (for example, when the second performance symbol is displayed in a state where no reach is performed in the pre-reading target variation).

[0178] (Number of times pre-target variation was performed) So far, we have explained the various pre-reading effects that are executed in pre-target variations based on the results of advance judgment regarding the right to determine the first special pattern corresponding to the pre-reading target variation. However, as is clear from the flow of performance returning from Figure 8(B) to Figure 8(A), the number of times a pre-target variation in which a pre-reading effect is executed is executed is not limited to one, and there may be multiple pre-target variations in which each pre-reading effect is executed before a pre-reading target variation.

[0179] For example, when two target pre-changes are performed before the pre-reading target change, the weak chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(C)) and the first effect pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(D)) are executed in the first target pre-change, and then the strong chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(E)) and the second effect pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(F)) are executed in the second target pre-change. Also, for example, when two target pre-changes are performed before the pre-reading target change, the weak chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(C)) and the first effect pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(D)) are executed in the first target pre-change, and the weak chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(C)) and the first effect pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(D)) may also be executed in the second target pre-change. Also, for example, if two pre-target variations occur before a pre-read target variation, a strong chance eye effect (see Figure 8(E)) and a second variation pattern focus effect (see Figure 8(F)) may be executed in the first pre-target variation, and a strong chance eye effect (see Figure 8(E)) and a second variation pattern focus effect (see Figure 8(F)) may also be executed in the second pre-target variation.

[0180] In addition, when three target pre-changes are performed before the pre-read target change, for example, a weak chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(C)) and a first performance pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(D)) are performed in the first target pre-change, then a weak chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(C)) and a first performance pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(D)) are performed in the second target pre-change, and a strong chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(E)) and a second performance pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(F)) are performed in the third target pre-change. Also, for example, a weak chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(C)) and a first performance pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(D)) may be performed in all of the first to third target pre-changes, or a strong chance eye effect (see FIG. 8(E)) and a second performance pattern attention effect (see FIG. 8(F)) may be performed in all of the first to third target pre-changes.

[0181] (Pay attention to the first and second performance patterns) As is clear from the above explanation, the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment can execute both the first performance symbol attention performance that draws attention to the first performance symbol and the second performance symbol attention performance that draws attention to the second performance symbol when not executing the reach performance. Therefore, by executing the first performance symbol attention performance (see FIG. 12(D)) in the target front variation, it is possible to make the player expect that various attention performances described later will be executed in the pre-reading target variation. Also, by executing the second performance symbol attention performance (see FIG. 12(H)) in the target front variation, it is possible to make the player expect that various attention performances will be executed in the pre-reading target variation.

[0182] In addition, when comparing the first and second performance symbol attention effects, the second performance symbol attention effect is more likely to have various attention effects and winning notification effects executed in the pre-reading target variation than the first performance symbol attention effect, and it can be said that the second performance symbol attention effect has a higher jackpot reliability than the first performance symbol attention effect. Therefore, the player can enjoy playing while expecting that the second performance symbol attention effect will be executed instead of the first performance symbol attention effect in the target variation, or that the second performance symbol attention effect will be executed in the target variation after the target variation in which the first performance symbol attention effect was executed.

[0183] Also, although not shown in Figure 8, when a pre-target change is being performed, a reserved icon indicating that a pre-read target change is on hold is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 (see Figure 2), and an icon change effect may be performed on the reserved icon corresponding to this pre-read target change.A high performance effect can be obtained by the synergistic effect of the icon change effect targeting the reserved icon corresponding to the pre-read target change, the weak chance eye effect (or strong chance eye effect), and the first performance pattern attention effect (or second performance pattern attention effect), and by executing these pre-reading effects in combination, it is possible to effectively increase the player's anticipation for the execution of a winning notification effect in the pre-read target change.

[0184] In this embodiment, the first performance symbol attention effect is always executed in association with the weak chance eye effect, but in other embodiments, a configuration in which the first performance symbol attention effect is executed in some cases when the weak chance eye effect is executed may be adopted. In addition, in this embodiment, the second performance symbol attention effect is always executed in association with the strong chance eye effect, but in other embodiments, a configuration in which the second performance symbol attention effect is executed in some cases when the strong chance eye effect is executed may be adopted.

[0185] In addition, in this embodiment, the effect image used for the first effect symbol attention effect and the effect image used for the second effect symbol attention are merely examples, and it goes without saying that the contents and display colors of the effect images used may be other. In addition, in other embodiments, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the first effect symbol attention effect is executed when the weak chance eye effect is not executed in the target front variation, or a configuration in which the second effect symbol attention effect is executed when the strong chance eye effect is not executed in the target front variation.

[0186] In addition, in this embodiment, the display screen 70 and the speaker 35 are used for the first and second performance symbol attention performances, but the performance means used for these performance symbol attention performances are not limited to this, and in other embodiments, these performance symbol attention performances may be performed using any one of a plurality of performance means such as the display screen 70, the speaker 35, the frame lamp 37, the board lamp 5, and the movable decorative member 14, or these performance symbol attention performances may be performed using a combination of two or more of these performance means. For example, when the first performance symbol attention performance is performed using the board lamp 5 alone, one example is a performance in which the color LEDs that are close to the left and center patterns among the multiple color LEDs that make up the board lamp 5 are made to emit blue light, and the other color LEDs are made to emit light in a color different from blue.

[0187] (Look-ahead target change) Next, the performance in the pre-reading target variation (the variation) will be described. In the pre-reading target variation, as in the case where the pre-target variation is started, first, the display of the first special symbol begins, and the scroll display of the three symbol rows in the performance symbol display area 73 begins on the display screen 70. Here, if the result of the first special symbol determination performed at the start of the variation of the pre-reading target variation is "miss" and it is determined that a "no-reach performance" is performed, in most cases, a no-reach performance (see FIG. 8(H)) in which a reach is not established by the performance symbol during the display of the first special symbol related to the pre-reading target variation is executed, and after the three performance symbols indicating the scatter are pseudo-stopped in order or simultaneously, a miss symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol, and a miss notification performance (see FIG. 8(I)) in which the three performance symbols indicating the scatter are stopped as they are is performed.

[0188] In addition, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when a weak chance eye effect and a first effect pattern attention effect are executed in the target pre-change, or when a strong chance eye effect and a second effect pattern attention effect are executed in the target pre-change, a reach effect is always executed in the pre-read target change. Therefore, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when none of these pre-read effects are executed in the target pre-change, a no-reach effect (see FIG. 8(H)) and a miss notification effect (see FIG. 8(I)) are executed.

[0189] On the other hand, in some cases where the result of the first special pattern determination performed at the start of the pre-read target fluctuation is a "jackpot," or where the result of the first special pattern determination is a "miss" and it is decided to carry out a "reach effect," or where the result of the first special pattern determination is a "miss" and it is decided to carry out a "non-reach effect," the following effects will be carried out.

[0190] That is, a pre-reach performance (see FIG. 8(J)) may be performed between the start of the display of the first special pattern and the performance pattern related to the pre-reading target change and the establishment of a reach due to the performance pattern. The pre-reach performance here is a notice performance that suggests the possibility of a winning notification performance being executed in the pre-reading target change before the reach due to the performance pattern is established in the pre-reading target change, and the degree of this possibility. This pre-reach performance will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 10.

[0191] Next, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the first special symbol and the performance symbol related to the pre-reading target variation started to be displayed, for example, the left symbol is pseudo-stopped on the effective line, and then the right symbol that is the same as the left symbol is pseudo-stopped on the effective line, thereby performing a reach-established performance that indicates that a reach has been established by the performance symbols (see FIG. 8(K) and FIG. 10(I)). When a reach has been established by the performance symbols in this way, a predetermined reach-established performance is performed that makes the player expect that the center symbol that is the same as the reach symbol (left symbol and right symbol) will stop on the effective line and the symbols will be aligned (i.e., a performance symbol with a repeat number will be displayed).

[0192] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, three types of reach effects are provided that can be executed in conjunction with the changing display of the first special pattern in the normal game state: normal reach (see Figure 8 (L)), SP reach (see Figure 8 (O)), and SPSP reach (see Figure 8 (P)).

[0193] (Normal reach) Here, the normal reach (see FIG. 8(L)) is a reach effect in which the jackpot reliability is relatively low and the winning notification effect is difficult to execute, and the jackpot reliability is set to about 3% in this embodiment. When the reach-established effect of FIG. 8(K) is executed, the normal reach (see FIG. 8(L)) is executed first. During the normal reach, an effect is displayed in which the two reach symbols (left symbol and right symbol) are displayed as pseudo-stops on the pay line, and the scroll speed of the middle symbol row, which was displayed as scrolling at high speed between the left symbol and the right symbol, gradually decreases.

[0194] Here, if the result of the first special pattern determination executed by the main CPU81 at the start of the pre-read target variation is "jackpot," and if a variation presentation pattern for notifying of a jackpot with a normal reach is set by the sub-CPU91 at the start of the pre-read target variation, then at the end of the pre-read target variation, a middle pattern the same as the reach pattern is pseudo-stopped on the effective line to pseudo-stop three presentation patterns representing a double number (for example, the "333" presentation pattern), and as the jackpot pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern, a win notification presentation (see Figure 8(M)) is performed in which the three presentation patterns representing the double number are stopped as they are.

[0195] In addition, if the result of the first special pattern determination executed by the main CPU81 at the start of the pre-reading target variation is "miss" and a variation presentation pattern for notifying of a miss in a normal reach is set by the sub-CPU91 at the start of the pre-reading target variation, then at the end of the pre-reading target variation, a middle pattern different from the reach pattern is pseudo-stopped on the effective line to display three presentation patterns representing a reach miss (for example, the "343" presentation pattern), and as the miss pattern is displayed as the first special pattern, a miss notification presentation (see Figure 8(N)) is performed in which the three presentation patterns representing the reach miss are stopped as they are.

[0196] (SP Reach) Furthermore, if the result of the first special pattern determination executed by the main CPU81 at the start of the pre-reading target variation is "jackpot," and a variation presentation pattern for notifying of a jackpot with an SP reach (see Figure 8(O)) developed from a normal reach is set by the sub-CPU91 at the start of the pre-reading target variation, three presentation patterns representing a double digit (for example, a "444" presentation pattern) are pseudo-stopped at the end of the pre-reading target variation, and as the jackpot pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern, a win notification presentation (see Figure 8(M)) is performed in which the three presentation patterns representing the double digit are stopped as they are.

[0197] In addition, if the result of the first special pattern determination executed by the main CPU81 at the start of the pre-reading target variation is "miss," and a variation presentation pattern for notifying of a miss in an SP reach (see Figure 8(O)) developed from a normal reach is set by the sub-CPU91 at the start of the pre-reading target variation, three presentation patterns representing a reach miss (for example, the "454" presentation pattern) are pseudo-stopped at the end of the pre-reading target variation, and as the missing pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern, a miss notification presentation (see Figure 8(N)) is performed in which the three presentation patterns representing the reach miss are actually stopped as they are.

[0198] Here, the SP reach (see FIG. 8(O)) is a reach effect that is easier to execute the winning notification effect than the normal reach, but is not easy to execute the winning notification effect, and its jackpot reliability is set to about 16% in this embodiment. The content of the SP reach effect can be anything, but in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, a battle effect is performed as the SP reach effect, showing a scene in which the main character and the enemy character battle. If the result of the first special symbol determination executed at the start of the pre-reading target variation is a "jackpot," a victory effect showing a scene in which the main character wins against the enemy character as a result of the battle is performed prior to the winning notification effect (see FIG. 8(M)). If the result of the first special symbol determination executed at the start of the pre-reading target variation is a "miss," a defeat effect showing a scene in which the main character loses to the enemy character as a result of the battle is performed prior to the miss notification effect (see FIG. 8(N)).

[0199] (SPSP reach) In addition, the sub-CPU 91 may set a variation presentation pattern that progresses from a normal reach (see FIG. 8(L)) via an SP reach (see FIG. 8(O)) to an SPSP reach (see FIG. 8(P)) or a variation presentation pattern that progresses directly from a normal reach to an SPSP reach without passing through an SP reach, depending on the variation presentation pattern setting process executed at the start of the pre-reading target variation. In these cases, the SPSP reach starts midway through the pre-reading target variation.

[0200] Here, if the result of the first special symbol determination executed by the main CPU81 at the start of the pre-reading target variation is "miss", three performance symbols (for example, the performance symbol of "767") representing a reach miss are pseudo-stopped at the end of the pre-reading target variation, and as the miss symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol, a miss notification effect (see FIG. 8(N)) is performed in which the three performance symbols representing the reach miss are stopped as they are. FIG. 11(I) illustrates a state in which three performance symbols representing the reach miss of "454" are pseudo-stopped and displayed as a result of the execution of the SPSP reach.

[0201] On the other hand, if the result of the first special pattern determination executed by the main CPU81 at the start of the pre-read target variation is a "jackpot," then a doublet performance pattern attention effect (an example of "another attention effect": see Figure 8(Q)) is performed at the end of the pre-read target variation to draw attention to three performance patterns representing doublets (for example, the "777" performance pattern), and then these three performance patterns representing doublets are pseudo-stopped and, as the jackpot pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern, a win notification effect (see Figure 8(R)) is performed in which the three performance patterns representing the doublets are stopped as they are.

[0202] In Fig. 15(D)-(E) described later, a double-digit performance pattern attention effect is shown, which draws attention to three performance patterns representing the double digits "777", before the winning notification effect in Fig. 15(F). Also, in Fig. 16(G)-(H), a double-digit performance pattern attention effect is shown, which draws attention to three performance patterns representing the double digits "222", before the winning notification effect in Fig. 16(I). These double-digit performance pattern attention effects are effects that draw attention to performance patterns representing double digits at the end of the SPSP reach when the result of the first special pattern determination executed at the start of the pre-reading target variation is "big win", and these double-digit performance pattern attention effects will be described in detail later.

[0203] Here, the SPSP reach (see FIG. 8(P)) is the reach effect that is most likely to be executed as a winning notification effect among the three types of reach effects, and its jackpot reliability is set to about 38% in this embodiment. The content of the SPSP reach effect may be any, but in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, a battle effect is performed as the SPSP reach effect, showing a scene in which the main character and the enemy character battle. If the result of the first special symbol determination executed at the start of the pre-reading target variation is a "jackpot," a victory effect showing a scene in which the main character wins against the enemy character as a result of the battle is performed prior to the winning notification effect (see FIG. 8(R)). If the result of the first special symbol determination executed at the start of the pre-reading target variation is a "miss," a defeat effect showing a scene in which the main character loses to the enemy character as a result of the battle is performed prior to the miss notification effect (see FIG. 8(N)).

[0204] In this way, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, battle effects are performed both during SP reach and during SPSP reach, but if a variation effect pattern that develops from SP reach to SPSP reach is set at the start of the pre-reading target variation, for example, the outcome is not decided in the battle effect (first half battle) during the SP reach, and a series of effects showing how the SP reach develops into the SPSP reach and a new battle effect (second half battle) begins will be performed before and after the start of the SPSP reach. On the other hand, if a variation effect pattern that develops directly from a normal reach to an SPSP reach (without passing through the SP reach effect) is set at the start of the pre-reading target variation, the second half battle will begin without the first half battle being performed.

[0205] In addition, there are several victory patterns available for the second half of the battle that takes place during the SPSP reach.In addition to a pattern in which the main character defeats the enemy character alone, there is also a pattern in which the main character joins forces with an ally character that appears during the second half of the battle to defeat the enemy character.

[0206] So far, we have explained three types of reach effects: normal reach, SP reach, and SPSP reach. If we rank these three types of reach effects from lowest to highest jackpot reliability, they are normal reach, SP reach, and SPSP reach. Therefore, players can enjoy playing while hoping that the final outcome will be an SPSP reach.

[0207] (Reach success teasing performance) Returning to the explanation of Fig. 8, after the pre-reach performance of Fig. 8(J) is performed, a reach-achievement prompting performance (see Fig. 8(S), Fig. 13(C), Fig. 18(A)) may be performed to heighten the player's expectations for the reach-achievement based on the performance symbols. When this reach-achievement prompting performance is performed, there are cases where a reach-achievement performance (see Fig. 8(U)) or a reach-achievement failure performance (see Fig. 8(T)) is performed afterwards.

[0208] Here, when the reach-achi failure effect (see FIG. 8(T)) is performed, thereafter the reach effect is not performed and the miss notification effect (see FIG. 8(N)) is performed. In FIG. 18(C)-(I), after the reach-achi failure effect is performed in response to the player's operation of the first effect button 35, the miss notification effect is performed in which three effect symbols indicating a scatter are displayed in a pseudo stop state and then displayed in a real stop state.

[0209] (Reach completion performance) FIG. 13(F) illustrates the state in which the reach-established performance of FIG. 8(U) is performed. When this reach-established performance is performed, the subsequent performance changes depending on the type of performance pattern that constitutes the reach pattern. Specifically, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when a reach is established by an odd number pattern, the reach-established performance (see FIG. 8(U)) is followed by a reach pattern attention performance (see FIG. 8(V)), and then it directly progresses to an SPSP reach (see FIG. 8(P)) without passing through a normal reach or SP reach. On the other hand, when a reach is established by an even number pattern, the reach pattern attention performance (see FIG. 8(V)) accompanying the reach-established performance (see FIG. 8(U)) is not performed, and it directly progresses to an SPSP reach (see FIG. 8(P)) without passing through a normal reach or SP reach.

[0210] In Fig. 13(F)-(I) and Fig. 14, after the reach establishment performance that notifies the establishment of reach with 7 symbols, a reach pattern attention performance that draws attention to the 7 symbols is performed, and then it progresses directly to SPSP reach without passing through normal reach or SP reach. Also, in Fig. 16(D)-(F), after the reach establishment performance that notifies the establishment of reach with 2 symbols, it progresses directly to SPSP reach without passing through normal reach or SP reach, without a reach pattern attention performance.

[0211] The features of the reach pattern attention effect will be described in detail later, but when a reach is achieved by the effect pattern, the sub-CPU91 is capable of executing a reach pattern attention effect that draws attention to the second effect pattern (in this embodiment, an odd number pattern), but is configured not to execute a reach pattern attention effect that draws attention to the first effect pattern (in this embodiment, an even number pattern).

[0212] After the reach establishment performance of Figure 8(U) is performed, it will progress directly to an SPSP reach (see Figure 8(P)) regardless of whether or not the reach pattern attention performance of Figure 8(V) is performed. However, the series of performances that will be performed after the development into an SPSP reach will be described in detail later with reference to Figure 9.

[0213] <Specific examples of pre-reach effects in normal game mode> Next, referring to Fig. 10, a specific example of a pre-reach performance performed during the variable display of the first special symbol in the normal game state will be described. Here, Fig. 10 is a screen diagram showing a specific example of a series of performances from the start of the variable display in the normal game state to the reach-established performance. The gaming machine 1 of this embodiment can execute various pre-reach performances (see Fig. 8(J)) from the start of the variable display of the first special symbol in the normal game state (from the start of the variable display in Fig. 8(G)) until the reach-established performance (see Fig. 8(K)) is performed.

[0214] FIG. 10(A) illustrates a state in which, in a state where one reserved icon (for example, a red reserved icon) is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 on the display screen 70, a losing symbol is displayed as the first special symbol to notify that the judgment result of the first special symbol judgment corresponding to the icon displayed in the icon display area 72 is "miss", and a performance pattern showing the "526" scatter pattern is displayed as a stopped display. In this way, when a predetermined determination time (0.5 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed since the losing symbol is displayed as the first special symbol, the first special symbol judgment corresponding to the first reserved icon (here, the red reserved icon) displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 is executed. Then, when the judgment result of this first special symbol judgment is "miss" and a variable performance pattern that directly develops from a normal reach (see FIG. 8(L)) to an SPSP reach (see FIG. 8(P)) is set by the sub-CPU91, the following performance is performed.

[0215] That is, as the first special symbol is changed in response to the execution of the first special symbol determination corresponding to the first reserved icon, the first reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 is shifted to the icon display area 72, and the scrolling display of the three symbol rows is started (see Figs. 10(A) and (B)). When a predetermined time has elapsed since the scrolling display of the three symbol rows started, the first notice may be executed as a pre-reach performance (see Fig. 8(J)) (see Fig. 10(C)). For example, as the first notice, a step-up notice is executed in which the display mode of the performance image (first notice performance image) related to the step-up notice displayed in the central area of ​​the display screen 70 is gradually changed, and a performance sound related to the step-up notice is output from the speaker 38.

[0216] Following the first notice, a pseudo consecutive performance may be executed (see FIG. 10(D)). Here, the pseudo consecutive performance is a performance that makes it look like the performance pattern displayed in the performance pattern display area 73 is displayed multiple times during the display of one special pattern (here, the first special pattern). Regarding this pseudo consecutive performance, the following performance display is performed.

[0217] That is, the scrolling speed of the left row of symbols slows down and the left symbol (e.g., symbol 6) pseudo-stops, then the scrolling speed of the right row of symbols slows down and the right symbol (different from the left symbol that pseudo-stopped earlier) pseudo-stops (e.g., symbol 4), and then the scrolling speed of the middle row of symbols slows down and symbol 7 pseudo-stops as the middle symbol that indicates the execution of the pseudo consecutive performance (see Figure 10(D)).

[0218] In this way, after the different performance symbols as the left and right symbols have stopped pseudo-stopping, when the 7 symbol has stopped pseudo-stopping in the middle row, the pseudo 2nd consecutive change performance (see FIG. 10(E)) following the pseudo 1st consecutive change performance starts. Specifically, after the character "x2" indicating the start of the pseudo 2nd consecutive change performance is displayed large in the center area of ​​the display screen 70, the character "x2" is displayed small in the upper left area of ​​the display screen 70, and the left 6 symbol, the middle 7 symbol, and the 4 symbol resume moving downward, and the scrolling display of the three symbol rows in the performance symbol display area 73 resumes (see FIG. 10(D) and (E)).

[0219] When this pseudo second consecutive change performance is being performed, for example, a line preview is executed as the second preview. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10(F), a performance image (second preview performance image) showing a state where a predetermined character speaks a line is displayed in the central area of ​​the display screen 70, and a performance sound (for example, the character's voice) related to the line preview is output from the speaker 38.

[0220] Although not shown in Fig. 10, when the pseudo second consecutive variation effect starts, a first effect button operation prompt effect similar to that illustrated in Fig. 18(C) described later is performed. Then, when the player operates the first effect button 35 during the effective period of this first effect button operation prompt effect, the above-mentioned line notice is executed as the operation corresponding effect. As is clear from the explanation so far, the step-up notice is a reach pre-effect that is performed regardless of the operation by the player, while the line notice is a reach pre-effect that is performed in response to the operation by the player, and thus the two are different from each other.

[0221] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 10, when the dialogue notice is executed as the second notice during the pseudo second consecutive variable performance as described above, the second pseudo consecutive performance is executed during the variable display of the first special symbol (see Fig. 10(G)). Specifically, as illustrated in Fig. 10(G), the scroll speed of the left-hand symbol row slows down and the left symbol (e.g., symbol 2) pseudo-stops, then the scroll speed of the right-hand symbol row slows down and the right symbol (e.g., symbol 5) pseudo-stops, and then the scroll speed of the middle symbol row slows down and the 7 symbol pseudo-stops as the middle symbol.

[0222] When the second pseudo consecutive performance is executed during the variable display of the first special symbol, the pseudo third consecutive performance starts following the pseudo second consecutive performance. Specifically, after the character "x3" indicating the start of the pseudo third consecutive performance is displayed large in the center area of ​​the display screen 70, the character "x3" is displayed small in the upper left area of ​​the display screen 70, and the scrolling display of the three symbol rows is resumed in the performance symbol display area 73 (see FIG. 10(G) and (H)).

[0223] Then, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the pseudo triple consecutive variable performance started in this manner, the scrolling speed of the left row of symbols slows down and the left symbol (for example, the number 4 symbol) pseudo-stops, and then the scrolling speed of the right row of symbols slows down (same as the left symbol) and the right symbol (here, the number 4 symbol) pseudo-stops, and a reach achievement performance (see Figure 8(K)) is performed to notify that a reach with the number 4 symbol has been achieved (see Figure 10(I)).

[0224] Note that, here, an example has been described in which a "pre-reach pseudo-consecutive" is executed in which the scrolling display of each row of symbols is resumed before a reach is achieved, but there are also cases in which a "post-reach pseudo-consecutive" is executed in which the scrolling display of each row of symbols is resumed after a reach is achieved.

[0225] <Specific examples of the first and second performance pattern focus effects> Next, referring to Fig. 12, a specific example of the first performance pattern attention performance and the second performance pattern attention performance will be described. Here, Fig. 12 is a screen diagram showing a specific example of the first performance pattern attention performance and the second performance pattern attention performance. In Fig. 12, the reserved icon with the characters "reserved 1" is a reserved icon suggesting that the above-mentioned first target pre-change is reserved, the reserved icon with the characters "reserved 2" is a reserved icon suggesting that the above-mentioned second target pre-change is reserved, and the reserved icon with the characters "reserved 3" is a reserved icon suggesting that the above-mentioned pre-read target change is reserved.

[0226] FIG. 12(A) illustrates a state in which a total of three reserved icons, namely, reserved icon 1, reserved icon 2, and reserved icon 3, are displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 on the display screen 70, and a performance pattern showing the "965" scatter pattern is displayed in a stopped state in order to inform that the judgment result of the first special pattern judgment corresponding to the icon displayed in the icon display area 72 is "miss". In this way, when a predetermined determination time (0.5 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed since the missing pattern is displayed in a stopped state as the first special pattern, the first special pattern judgment corresponding to the most recent reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 (here, the reserved icon 1 indicating that the first target pre-change is reserved: see FIG. 12(A)) is executed. Then, when the judgment result of this first special pattern judgment is "miss" and it is determined to execute the "no reach performance", the following performance is executed.

[0227] (First pre-target change) That is, as the first special pattern determination corresponding to the reserved icon of reserved 1 is executed, the display of the first special pattern begins, and the reserved icon of reserved 1 shifts from the reserved icon display area 71 to the icon display area 72, and the scrolling display of the three pattern rows related to the first pre-target variation begins (see Figs. 12(A) and (B)). In addition, as illustrated in Figs. 12(A) and (B), the reserved icons of reserved 2 and reserved 3 shift leftward within the reserved icon display area 71, and are displayed as the first reserved icon and the second reserved icon, respectively.

[0228] (Weak chance effect and first effect pattern attention effect) In this way, when a predetermined time has passed since the scroll display of the three pattern rows related to the first target pre-change started, the three performance patterns indicating weak chance eyes, the left 4 pattern, the middle 4 pattern, and the right 3 pattern, are pseudo-stopped at the same time (see FIG. 12(C)). Accordingly, the left 4 pattern and the middle 4 pattern that are pseudo-stopped are enlarged and the right 3 pattern is reduced, and blue rain falls from the rain clouds on the left 4 pattern and the middle 4 pattern, and a first performance pattern attention performance that increases the attention of these two 4 patterns is performed (see FIG. 12(D)). The flow of the performance that executes this weak chance eye performance and the first performance pattern attention performance is as described above based on FIG. 8(C) and (D).

[0229] Note that Figure 12(D) illustrates an example of a first performance pattern attention effect being performed in which the first performance pattern (in this embodiment, an even number pattern) is the first performance pattern, which increases the attention level of two 4-number patterns; however, for example, there may also be cases in which a first performance pattern attention effect is performed in which the attention level of two 2-number patterns is increased, or in which a first performance pattern attention effect is performed in which the attention level of two 8-number patterns is increased.

[0230] After that, at the end of the first target fluctuation, although not shown in the figure, the size of the left 4 symbols, the center 4 symbols, and the right 3 symbols are returned to normal size, and then these three symbols showing "443" are pseudo-stopped and a losing symbol is stopped as the first special symbol, and a losing notification effect is performed in which these three symbols are stopped for real. Figure 12(E) shows an example of the state in which the three symbols showing "443" are stopped for real.

[0231] When a predetermined confirmation time (0.5 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed since a losing symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol for the first target pre-variation, a first special symbol determination is executed corresponding to the earliest reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 (here, the reserved icon for reserved 2, which indicates that the second target pre-variation is reserved: see FIG. 12(E)). Then, if the result of this first special symbol determination is a "miss" and it has been decided to execute a "no-reach performance", the following performance is executed.

[0232] (Second pre-target change) That is, as the first special pattern determination corresponding to the reserved icon of reserved 2 is executed, the display of the first special pattern begins, and the reserved icon of reserved 2 shifts from the reserved icon display area 71 to the icon display area 72, and the scrolling display of the three pattern rows related to the second pre-target variation begins (see Figs. 12(E) and (F)). In addition, as illustrated in Figs. 12(E) and (F), the reserved icon of reserved 3 shifts leftward within the reserved icon display area 71 and is displayed as the foremost reserved icon.

[0233] In this way, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the scroll display of the three pattern rows related to the second target pre-change started, the three performance patterns of the left 7 pattern, the middle 7 pattern, and the right 6 pattern, which indicate strong chances, are pseudo-stopped at the same time (see FIG. 12(G)). Accordingly, the left 7 pattern and the middle 7 pattern, which are pseudo-stopped, are enlarged and the right 6 pattern is reduced, and the left 7 pattern and the middle 7 pattern are struck by red lightning, and a second performance pattern attention performance that increases the attention of these two 7 patterns is performed (see FIG. 12(H)). The flow of the performance that executes this strong chance performance and the second performance pattern attention performance is as described above based on FIG. 8(E) and (F).

[0234] Note that Figure 12 (H) illustrates an example of a second performance pattern attention effect being performed in which the second performance pattern (in this embodiment, an odd number pattern) is increased in attention to two 7 symbols; however, for example, there may also be cases in which a second performance pattern attention effect is performed in which the second performance pattern is increased in attention to two 3 symbols, or in which a second performance pattern attention effect is performed in which the second performance pattern is increased in attention to two 5 symbols.

[0235] After that, at the end of the second target pre-change, although not shown in the figure, after the display of the effect of returning the size of the left 7 pattern, the middle 7 pattern, and the right 6 pattern to the normal size, the three performance patterns indicating "776" are pseudo-stopped and a miss pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern, a miss notification effect is performed in which the three performance patterns are stopped. FIG. 12(I) illustrates a state in which the three performance patterns indicating "776" are stopped. In this way, when a predetermined determination time (0.5 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed since the miss pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern related to the second target pre-change, a first special pattern determination corresponding to the most recent reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 (here, the reserved icon of reserved 3, which suggests that the pre-read target change is reserved: see FIG. 12(I)) is executed, but the performance in the pre-read target change executed in response to the execution of this first special pattern determination will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 13.

[0236] <Reach success hinting performance and reach failure performance> Next, a specific example of a series of effects when a reach-achi failure effect (see FIG. 8(T)) is performed after a reach-achi success inciting effect (see FIG. 8(S)) will be described with reference to FIG. 18. Here, FIG. 18 is a screen diagram showing a specific example of a series of effects when a miss notification effect is executed after a reach-achi failure effect.

[0237] (Reach success teasing performance) As described above based on Fig. 8, in the pre-read target variation, a reach-establishment encouraging performance (see Fig. 8(S)) may be performed after a reach pre-performance (see Fig. 8(J)). Fig. 18(A) shows an example of a reach establishment encouraging performance in which a specific character and a speech bubble expressing the specific character's line "A big chance with a reach establishment!?" are displayed in a state where one reserved icon is displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 and three pattern rows corresponding to the icon (here, the white icon) displayed in the icon display area 72 are scrolled, making the player expect a reach establishment due to the performance pattern.

[0238] After such a reach establishment encouraging effect is performed, a left / right symbol slow movement effect is performed in which the left symbol and the right symbol that is the same as the left symbol slowly descend simultaneously (see FIG. 18(B)). FIG. 18(B) illustrates an example of the left 4 symbols and the right 4 symbols slowly descending simultaneously due to the left / right symbol slow movement effect. When this left / right symbol slow movement effect is started, the scroll speed of the middle symbol row increases, the middle symbol row becomes invisible, and when the left 4 symbols and the right 4 symbols descend to a predetermined height in the vertical direction of the display screen 70, a first effect button operation promotion effect is performed to encourage the player to operate the first effect button 35 (see FIG. 18(C)). Figure 18 (C) shows an example of a state in which the first effect button operation promotion effect displays on the display screen 70 a first effect button image modeled after the first effect button 35, the word "Press!" indicating the operation of the first effect button 35 that is being prompted to the player, and a validity period gauge that indicates the remaining time of the valid period during which the operation of the first effect button 35 is valid.

[0239] (Failed reach effect) Here, if the sub-CPU 91 has set the execution of the reach-establishment failure performance (see FIG. 8(T)) after the reach-establishment teasing performance (see FIG. 8(S)) at the start of the pre-reading target variation, a series of reach-establishment failure performances as illustrated in FIG. 18(D) to (G) are performed. Here, FIG. 18(D) illustrates a state in which the left 4 symbols pseudo-stop at a predetermined height in the vertical direction of the display screen 70, and the right 4 symbols that were about to pseudo-stop at the predetermined height increase in the downward movement speed, and the scroll display of the right row of symbols is resumed. In addition, the following FIG. 18(E) illustrates a state in which the scroll speed of the right row of symbols decreases again, and the right 5 symbols that appeared in the upper right corner slowly descend. In addition, the following FIG. 18(F) illustrates a state in which the above-mentioned specific character and a speech bubble expressing the specific character's line "Too bad..." are displayed in a state in which the left 4 symbols and the right 5 symbols pseudo-stop at a predetermined height. In addition, the following FIG. 18(G) illustrates an example in which the scrolling speed of the middle row of symbols suddenly decreases, and the middle 5 symbol that appeared at the top slowly descends.

[0240] After such a series of failed reach-formation effects are performed, the three performance symbols indicating the "455" scatter pattern are pseudo-stopped, and a losing symbol is displayed as the first special symbol, along with a losing notification effect in which these three performance symbols are actually stopped (see Figures 18(H) and (I)).

[0241] [A series of effects following the reach-established effect following the reach-established effect] Next, referring to Fig. 9, a series of effects in the case where a reach establishment prompting effect (see Fig. 8(S)) is followed by a reach establishment effect (see Fig. 8(U)) and directly develops into an SPSP reach (see Fig. 8(P)) will be described. Here, Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the flow of a series of effects after the reach establishment effect following the reach establishment prompting effect.

[0242] In the above explanation of Fig. 18, a specific example of a series of effects when a reach-achidemonstration effect (see Fig. 8(S)) is followed by a reach-achidemonstration failure effect (see Fig. 8(T)) and then a miss notification effect (see Fig. 8(N)) is performed is explained. Next, with reference to Fig. 9, a series of effects will be explained when a reach-achidemonstration effect (see Fig. 8(S)) is followed by a reach-achidemonstration effect (see Fig. 8(U)) and then a direct development to an SPSP reach (see Fig. 8(P)) without passing through a normal reach or SP reach.

[0243] If a variation presentation pattern in which a reach establishment hinting presentation (see Figure 8 (S)) is performed followed by a reach establishment presentation (see Figure 8 (U)) and then develops into an SPSP reach (see Figure 8 (P)) is set by the sub-CPU 91 at the start of the pre-read target variation shown in Figure 8, a series of presentations as follows will be performed.

[0244] That is, when the above-mentioned variation performance pattern is set, during the variation display of the first special symbol and the performance symbol related to the pre-reading target variation, the reach establishment prompting performance (see FIG. 9(A)) and the reach establishment performance (see FIG. 9(B)) are performed in order. The reach establishment prompting performance is as described above based on FIG. 18(A), and the subsequent reach establishment performance (see FIG. 9(B)) includes a case where an even number symbol reach establishment performance that notifies the reach establishment by an even number symbol is performed (for example, see FIG. 16(D)), and a case where an odd number symbol reach establishment performance that notifies the reach establishment by an odd number symbol is performed (for example, see FIG. 13(F)). When either of the reach establishment performances is performed, the reach post performance (an example of the "expectation performance") from FIG. 9(C) onwards is started.

[0245] In this way, the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment can execute two types of reach-achievement effects, broadly speaking, an even pattern reach-achievement effect and an odd pattern reach-achievement effect. However, the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment has the feature that the flow of the subsequent effects changes depending on the type of reach-achievement effect.

[0246] Specifically, the sub-CPU91 is configured to perform the following performance control: when an odd-numbered symbol reach-achievement performance is executed as a reach-achi achievement performance (see FIG. 9(B)), a reach-achi symbol attention performance (see FIG. 9(C)) is executed following the odd-numbered symbol reach-achievement performance, whereas when an even-numbered symbol reach-achievement performance is executed as a reach-achi achievement performance (see FIG. 9(B)), a reach-achi symbol attention performance (see FIG. 9(C)) is not executed. Below, a specific example of a reach-achi symbol attention performance that draws attention to odd-numbered symbols as reach-achi symbols will be described with reference to FIG. 13.

[0247] <Specific examples of notable reach patterns> Fig. 13(A) illustrates the state immediately after the start of the pre-reading target change (pattern change corresponding to the reserved icon of reserved 3: see Fig. 8(G)) after the first pre-target change (pattern change corresponding to the reserved icon of reserved 1: reserved 1 change) and the second pre-target change (pattern change corresponding to the reserved icon of reserved 2: reserved 2 change) described based on Fig. 12. Specifically, in response to the execution of the first special pattern determination corresponding to the reserved icon of reserved 3 corresponding to the pre-reading target change, the display of the change of the first special pattern starts, and the first reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 71 (here, the reserved icon of reserved 3) shifts to the icon display area 72, and the scrolling display of the three pattern rows starts (see Fig. 13(A)).

[0248] Then, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the scroll display of these three pattern rows has started, a pre-reach performance (see FIG. 8(J)) is performed to expect that a winning notification performance will be executed in the current pre-reading target change (see FIG. 13(B)). Although not shown in FIG. 13, between the start of the current pre-reading target change and the performance of the reach establishment incitement (see FIG. 8(S), FIG. 9(A), FIG. 13(C)), a first performance button operation promotion performance that encourages the player to operate the first performance button 35 is performed, similar to the first performance button operation promotion performance described above based on FIG. 18(C). FIG. 13(B) illustrates an example of a line announcement being performed as a pre-reach performance in response to the player operating the first performance button 35 during the effective period related to this first performance button operation promotion performance. In this line announcement, a performance image showing a predetermined character uttering the line "It's your chance!" is displayed on the display screen 70, and a sound with the same content as this line is output from the speaker 38.

[0249] Note that, here, we will use the example of a case where a dialogue announcement is made as the pre-reach performance, but there are also cases where the above-mentioned step-up announcement is made as the pre-reach performance, or where both a step-up announcement and a dialogue announcement are made as the pre-reach performance.

[0250] (Reach success teasing performance) After such pre-reach performance (see Fig. 8(J) and Fig. 13(B)), the reach establishment prompting performance (see Fig. 8(S) and Fig. 9(A)) is performed (see Fig. 13(C)). The reach establishment prompting performance exemplified in Fig. 13(C) is as described above based on Fig. 18(A), so a detailed description will be omitted here.

[0251] Next, a left and right slow movement effect is performed in which the left symbol and the right symbol that is the same as the left symbol slowly descend at the same time (see FIG. 13(D)). FIG. 13(D) illustrates an example of the left 7 symbol and the right 7 symbol slowly descending at the same time by the left and right slow movement effect. When this left and right slow movement effect is started, the scroll speed of the middle row of symbols increases, the middle row of symbols becomes invisible, and when the left 7 symbol and the right 7 symbol descend to a predetermined height in the vertical direction of the display screen 70, a first button operation promotion effect is performed to encourage the player to operate the first button 35 (see FIG. 13(E)). The first button operation promotion effect illustrated in FIG. 13(E) is performed in the same manner as the first button operation promotion effect described above based on FIG. 18(C).

[0252] (Reach completion effect with odd numbers) Here, since the sub-CPU 91 has preset the establishment of a reach with the 7 symbols at the start of the current pre-read target variation, a reach establishment effect (see FIG. 9(B)) is performed to notify the establishment of a reach with the 7 symbols in response to the player operating the first effect button 35, or in response to the expiration of the effective period related to the first effect button operation prompt effect of FIG. 13(E) without the player operating the first effect button 35 (see FIG. 13(F)). FIG. 13(F) illustrates an example of a state in which the left 7 symbols and the right 7 symbols are displayed as pseudo-stops, the reach line extending to the left and right so as to pass through these 7 symbols, the word "reach!", a specific character, and a speech bubble expressing the specific character's line "You did it!!" are displayed as reach establishment effects, and a sound with the same content as the word "reach!" is output from the speaker 38 in association with these display effects.

[0253] (Attention to reach patterns) Next, since a reach is achieved by the 7 symbol, which is an odd number symbol, a reach symbol attention performance (see FIG. 9(C)) is performed following the reach achievement performance (see FIG. 9(B) and FIG. 13(F)) (see FIG. 13(G)-(I)). FIG. 13(G) illustrates an example in which the left 7 symbol, which is pseudo-stopped in the reach achievement performance, moves to the right while expanding, and the right 7 symbol, which is pseudo-stopped in the reach achievement performance, moves to the left while expanding. In addition, the following FIG. 13(H) illustrates an example in which, in the process in which the left 7 symbol and the right 7 symbol expand and move in a direction approaching each other, these 7 symbols rotate clockwise with the scroll direction of each symbol row (here, downward) as the axis. In addition, the following FIG. 13(I) illustrates an example in which a combination performance is performed in which the left 7 symbol and the right 7 symbol, which have approached each other to a certain distance, combine, and one huge 7 symbol is displayed as a result of the combination performance. Although not shown in the figure, a specific sound effect is output from the speaker 38 during the period in which the reach symbol attention performance is being performed.

[0254] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, in addition to the display screen 70 and speaker 38, various presentation means such as the frame lamp 37, the board lamp 5, and the movable decorative member 14 are provided, so it is possible that the player may not see the reach symbol displayed by the reach achievement presentation. In contrast, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, a reach symbol attention presentation is performed when a reach is achieved with an odd number symbol, so it is expected to have the effect of moving the player's gaze to the display screen 70 and drawing attention to the reach symbol.

[0255] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, the reach symbol attention performance starts immediately following the reach achievement performance that notifies the achievement of reach with odd-numbered symbols, so it can be considered that the reach symbol attention performance is executed when the reach is achieved. The reach symbol attention performance is executed using the display screen 70 and the speaker 38, and although not shown in the figure, when the reach symbol attention performance is being executed, the frame lamp 37 and the board lamp 5 emit light in a light emitting pattern for the reach symbol attention performance.

[0256] <Specific examples of a series of effects when reach pattern attention effects are not executed> Next, referring to Fig. 16, a specific example of a series of effects following the reach establishment incitement effect when the reach pattern attention effect described based on Fig. 13 is not executed will be described. Here, Fig. 16 is a screen diagram showing a specific example of a repeat number effect pattern attention effect that draws attention to three performance patterns showing the repeat numbers "222". Note that Fig. 16 omits the illustration of the effects performed during the SPSP reach, and the effects during this SPSP reach will be described in detail later based on other drawings.

[0257] (Reach success teasing performance) Fig. 16(A) shows an example of the reach-established prompting performance shown in Fig. 8(S) and Fig. 9(A) being performed. This reach-established prompting performance is performed in the same manner as the reach-established prompting performance described above based on Fig. 13(C), so a detailed description will be omitted here.

[0258] When the reach establishment encouraging effect of FIG. 16(A) is performed, next, a left / right slow movement effect is performed in which the left symbol and the right symbol that is the same as the left symbol slowly descend at the same time (see FIG. 16(B)). FIG. 16(B) illustrates an example of two left symbols and two right symbols slowly descending at the same time by the left / right slow movement effect. This left / right slow movement effect illustrated in FIG. 16(B) is performed in the same manner as the left / right slow movement effect described above based on FIG. 13(D), except that the descending left and right symbols are different.

[0259] When the two left symbols and the two right symbols drop to a predetermined height in the vertical direction of the display screen 70 by the left and right symbol slow movement effect in Fig. 16(B), a first button operation prompting effect is performed to prompt the player to operate the first button 35 (see Fig. 16(C)). The first button operation prompting effect exemplified in Fig. 16(C) is performed in the same manner as the first button operation prompting effect described above based on Fig. 18(C).

[0260] (Even number symbol combinations for reach creation) Here, since the sub-CPU 91 has set in advance that a reach is achieved by two symbols at the start of the current pre-read target variation, a reach achievement performance (see FIG. 9(B)) that notifies that a reach is achieved by two symbols is performed in response to the player operating the first performance button 35, or in response to the expiration of the effective period related to the first performance button operation prompt performance of FIG. 16(C) without the player operating the first performance button 35 (see FIG. 16(D)). FIG. 16(D) illustrates an example of a state in which two left and two right symbols are displayed as pseudo-stop displays, a reach line that extends left and right so as to pass over these two symbols, the word "reach!", a specific character, and a speech bubble that displays the specific character's line "You did it!!" As a result of these display performances, a sound with the same content as the word "reach!" is output from the speaker 38.

[0261] In Fig. 9, as a reach completion performance (see Fig. 9(B)), an even number symbol reach completion performance that notifies the completion of a reach by an even number symbol is performed, followed by a reach symbol shrink movement performance (see Fig. 9(D)), a performance in which the reach symbols are displayed in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas (see Fig. 9(E)), the start of an SPSP reach (see Fig. 9(F)), a repeat number performance symbol attention performance (see Fig. 9(R)), and a winning notification performance (see Fig. 9(S)) are performed in this order (the flow of the first performance route described later). In contrast, Figs. 16(E) to (I) show specific examples of these performances illustrated in Fig. 9.

[0262] (Reach pattern shrinking movement performance) Figure 16(E) shows a specific example of the reach symbol shrinking and moving presentation of Figure 9(D). Figure 16(E) shows, as an example of a presentation suggesting development to an SPSP reach, the two left symbols shrinking and moving to the upper left area of ​​the display screen 70, making one rotation clockwise around the scroll direction as the axial direction before moving to the upper left area, and at the same time, the two right symbols shrinking and moving to the upper right area of ​​the display screen 70, making one rotation clockwise around the scroll direction as the axial direction before moving to the upper right area.

[0263] The following Figure 16(F) shows a specific example of the effect in which the reach patterns in Figure 9(E) are displayed in a pseudo-stop state while being reduced in the upper left and right areas, and the start of the SPSP reach in Figure 9(F). Figure 16(F) shows an example in which the two left patterns are displayed in a pseudo-stop state while being reduced in the upper left area, and the two right patterns are displayed in a pseudo-stop state while being reduced in the upper right area. Also, when the SPSP reach starts, although not shown in Figure 16, a performance image of the second half battle, etc. is displayed on the display screen 70 as the SPSP reach performance image that is displayed during the SPSP reach.

[0264] (Attention to the double numbers) 16(G) and (H) show a specific example of the doublet effect pattern attention effect of FIG. 9(R), which is an attention effect that draws attention to the effect pattern that suggests that a big win game will be executed. If the result of the first special pattern determination executed by the main CPU 81 at the start of this pre-reading target variation is "big win", the victory effect of FIG. 9(Q) is performed as the result effect of the SPSP reach, and then three effect patterns showing doublets (here, doublets of "222") are displayed on the display screen 70. The doublet effect pattern attention effect exemplified in FIG. 16(G) and (H) is an effect that draws attention to the three effect images showing doublets displayed with the end of the SPSP reach in this way, and FIG. 16(G) to (H) show an example of an effect that increases the attention to these three effect patterns by gradually enlarging the three effect patterns of "222" that are pseudo-stopped and displayed.

[0265] Although not shown in Figures 16(G) and (H), when the double-digit performance symbol attention performance is being performed, the frame lamps 37 and the board lamps 5 light up in an illumination pattern for the double-digit performance symbol attention performance so that they appear to glow in rainbow colors.

[0266] In this way, after the triplet number performance pattern attention display that draws attention to the three performance patterns that indicate the triplet number "222" has been performed, the three performance patterns that indicate the triplet number "222" are pseudo-stopped and displayed in their normal size (see Figure 16(I)), and as the jackpot pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern, these three performance patterns that indicate the triplet number "222" will stop for good.

[0267] Up to this point, with reference to Figure 16, a specific example of a series of effects has been explained using as an example a case where an even number pattern reach completion effect is performed as a reach completion effect (see Figure 9(B)), followed by a reach pattern shrinking movement effect (see Figure 9(D)). However, as is clear from the notation in Figure 9, a similar reach pattern shrinking movement effect (see Figure 9(D)) may be performed not only when an even number pattern reach completion effect is performed as a reach completion effect (see Figure 9(B)), but also when an odd number pattern reach completion effect is performed as a reach completion effect, followed by a reach pattern focus effect (see Figure 9(C)).

[0268] <About the characteristics of each performance pattern and reach pattern noteworthy performance> Up to this point, with reference to each drawing, we have explained a case where when a reach is achieved with an odd numbered symbol (for example, 7 symbol) (see FIG. 13(F)), a reach pattern attention performance (for example, see FIG. 13(G)-(I)) that draws attention to the odd numbered symbol is executed, and when a reach is achieved with an even numbered symbol (for example, 2 symbol) (see FIG. 16(D)), an SPSP reach is executed without executing the reach pattern attention performance as exemplified in FIG. 13(G)-(I). Here, we will first explain the characteristics of each performance pattern displayed on the display screen 70.

[0269] (Features of 3 and 7 patterns) When the result of the first special symbol determination in the normal game state is a "jackpot," three performance symbols showing a doublet are pseudo-stopped and displayed on the display screen 70 before the doublet symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol, and the three performance symbols showing the doublet are stopped and displayed as they are as the first special symbol. In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, nine types of doublets are provided as the doublets: "111," "222," "333," "444," "555," "666," "777," "888," and "999." Regarding the two types of double numbers, "777" and "333", out of these nine types, when the jackpot symbol X1 (see FIG. 6(B)) that notifies the winning of 3R special A is stopped, the three performance symbols showing the double numbers "777" or "333" may stop, whereas when the jackpot symbol X2 (see FIG. 6(B)) that notifies the winning of 3R normal is stopped, the three performance symbols showing the double numbers "777" or "333" do not stop. From these facts, it can be said that both the three performance symbols showing the double numbers "777" and the three performance symbols showing the double numbers "333" are performance symbols that definitely notify the winning of the special jackpot.

[0270] (Features of 2, 4, 6, and 8 designs) On the other hand, for the four types of double numbers consisting of the same three even numbers, "222", "444", "666", and "888", when the jackpot symbol X2 (see FIG. 6(B)) that notifies the winning of the 3R normal is stopped, the three performance symbols showing any of the above four types of double numbers will mostly stop, and when the jackpot symbol X1 (see FIG. 6(B)) that notifies the winning of the 3R special A is stopped, the possibility of the three performance symbols showing any of the above four types of double numbers stopping is extremely low. From this, it can be said that the three performance symbols showing any of the above four types of double numbers consisting of three even numbers are basically performance symbols that cannot be expected to result in a special jackpot.

[0271] (Features of 1, 5 and 9 designs) In addition, the three kinds of double numbers consisting of the same three odd numbers "111", "555", and "999" (excluding the numbers 3 and 7) have the following characteristics. In other words, in both cases where the jackpot symbol X2 (see FIG. 6(B)) that notifies the winning of the 3R normal is displayed, and the jackpot symbol X1 (see FIG. 6(B)) that notifies the winning of the 3R special rate A is displayed, the three performance symbols showing any of the above three kinds of double numbers will stop, but the three performance symbols showing any of the double numbers "111", "555", and "999" are more likely to stop in the latter case (in the case of the 3R special rate A) than in the former case (in the case of the 3R normal). For this reason, it can be said that the three symbols showing any of the four types of repeated numbers, "111," "555," or "999," are more likely to result in a jackpot than the three symbols showing any of the four types of repeated numbers, which are made up of three even-number symbols.

[0272] (Features of the Reach Pattern Attention Production) Incidentally, as is clear from the above description of each performance symbol, the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment has a feature that, when three performance symbols showing any of the four kinds of repeated numbers, "222", "444", "666", and "888", are pseudo-stopped and then stopped for real, basically, a sure-win jackpot cannot be expected (i.e., the possibility of 3R normal is extremely high). For this reason, if a configuration is applied in which a reach symbol attention performance that draws attention to the reach symbol (even symbol) is executed following the even symbol reach establishment performance exemplified in Fig. 16(D), the player will be conscious of the 3R normal at the time of the reach establishment, and it is considered that the interest is reduced rather than increased by executing the reach symbol attention performance.

[0273] Therefore, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, as described above, when a reach is achieved with an odd numbered symbol as exemplified in FIG. 13(F), a reach pattern attention effect is executed to draw attention to the reach pattern (here, an odd numbered symbol), whereas when a reach is achieved with an even numbered symbol as exemplified in FIG. 16(D), a reach pattern attention effect is not executed to draw attention to the reach pattern (here, an even numbered symbol). By adopting a configuration such that the occurrence of the above problems is suppressed, a highly entertaining reach pattern attention effect is executed.

[0274] Although not shown in the figure, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, for example, the left 3 and left 4 symbols constituting the left row of symbols are displayed in a pseudo-stop state, and the right 3 and right 4 symbols constituting the right row of symbols are displayed in a pseudo-stop state, so that a reach with 3 symbols and a reach with 4 symbols are simultaneously established. In this way, when reach with two different reach symbols is established simultaneously, a reach symbol attention effect that draws attention to the 3 symbols is executed, but a reach symbol attention effect that draws attention to the 4 symbols is not executed.

[0275] (Other configurations regarding reach pattern attention performance) In addition, regarding the reach symbol attention performance, the following configuration may be adopted in other embodiments. That is, in this embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which the reach symbol attention performance is executed when a reach is achieved by an odd number symbol, while the reach symbol attention performance is not executed when a reach is achieved by an even number symbol. In contrast, in other embodiments, taking into consideration the above-mentioned characteristics of each performance symbol, for example, when a reach is achieved by a 7 symbol or a 3 symbol (i.e., when it is determined that a jackpot game related to 3R probability A will be executed if the symbols are aligned as they are), the reach symbol attention performance is executed, while when a reach is achieved by a performance symbol other than the 7 symbol and the 3 symbol (i.e., when it is determined that a jackpot game related to 3R normal will be executed if the symbols are aligned as they are), the reach symbol attention performance may not be executed.

[0276] In this embodiment, an example will be described in which an effect is executed as a reach symbol attention effect by combining the enlargement movement of the left and right symbols displayed in a pseudo-stop state as a reach symbol (see FIG. 13(G)), the rotation of these left and right symbols (see FIG. 13(G)), and a combination effect in which these left and right symbols are combined (see FIG. 13(I)). In contrast, in other embodiments, a configuration may be adopted in which a reach symbol attention effect is executed to draw attention to the reach symbol without moving or changing the size of the left and right symbols displayed in a pseudo-stop state as a reach symbol. In order to adopt such a configuration, for example, a decorative image that increases the attention of the reach symbol (left and right symbols) may be displayed around the reach symbol, or a decorative image that increases the attention of the reach symbol (left and right symbols) may be displayed so as to overlap with a part of the reach symbol.

[0277] In addition, in other embodiments, a combination of two or more of a change in the display mode (e.g., at least one of the size, shape, and display color) of the reach patterns (left pattern and right pattern), a change in the display position of the reach patterns, and the display of the decorative image may be executed as a reach pattern attention effect.

[0278] Another example of a reach symbol attention effect is one in which two characters appear on the display screen 70, one character points to the left symbol as the reach symbol and the other character points to the right symbol as the reach symbol, and a sound such as "Attention!!" is output from the speaker 38.

[0279] In another embodiment, a focus effect may be executed to draw attention to the second effect symbol (in this embodiment, an odd number symbol) at a timing other than when the reach is established. In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, as described above based on Fig. 10(D) and (G), the 7 symbol is pseudo-stopped as a middle symbol that notifies the execution of the pseudo consecutive effect, so that a focus effect may be executed to draw attention to the middle 7 symbol at the timing when the middle 7 symbol is pseudo-stopped.

[0280] [Regarding the production route of SPSP reach] In the gaming machine 1 of the present embodiment, as a series of production processes performed during SPSP reach, as illustrated in FIG. 9, two production routes, a first production route and a second production route, are prepared. Note that FIG. 9 illustrates a production flow in which there is a production branch after the reach establishment encouragement production (see FIG. 9(A)), and the production of the first production route or the production of the second production route proceeds. On the other hand, as described above with reference to FIG. 8, the gaming machine 1 of the present embodiment has a development pattern that develops from a normal reach (see FIG. 8(L)) via an SP reach (see FIG. 8(O)) to an SPSP reach (see FIG. 8(P)), and a development pattern that directly develops to an SPSP reach without passing through an SP reach from a normal reach. Even when developing to an SPSP reach in any of these development patterns, the production of the first production route or the production of the second production route illustrated in FIG. 9 proceeds during the SPSP reach.

[0281] [Production of the first production route of SPSP reach] Here, first, while referring to FIGS. 9 and 11, the flow of a series of productions in the first production route and specific examples of these productions will be described. FIG. 11 is a screen diagram showing a specific example of the production of the first production route of SPSP reach, and shows a specific example of a series of productions from a normal reach directly developing to an SPSP reach until a losing notification production is executed.

[0282] When the performance of the SPSP reach progresses along the first performance route in FIG. 9, there are mainly three patterns. The first pattern is a pattern in which a reach pattern attention performance (see FIG. 9(C)) (to draw attention to odd-numbered symbols as reach patterns) is performed following a reach completion performance (see FIG. 9(B)) (notifying the completion of reach with odd-numbered symbols), and then a reach pattern shrinking movement performance (see FIG. 9(D)) is performed. Next, the second pattern is a pattern in which a reach completion performance (see FIG. 9(B)) (notifying the completion of reach with even-numbered symbols) is performed, and then a reach pattern shrinking movement performance (see FIG. 9(D)) is performed without a reach pattern attention performance (see FIG. 9(C)). And the third pattern is a pattern in which a reach pattern shrinking movement performance (see FIG. 9(D)) is performed when a normal reach (or SP reach) develops into an SPSP reach as in FIG. 8.

[0283] Here, a specific example of a series of presentations when the second pattern presentation is performed and then the presentation progresses along the first presentation route has been described above with reference to Figure 16.Here, we will explain the flow of a series of presentations that are performed when the third pattern presentation is performed and then the presentation progresses along the first presentation route, and a specific example of that flow.

[0284] Fig. 11(A) shows an example of a normal reach being performed following the reach-established performance of Fig. 10(I) which notifies the establishment of a reach with 4 symbols. In this normal reach, as shown in Fig. 11(A), after the reach is established with the left 4 symbols and the right 4 symbols, the scroll speed of the middle row of symbols gradually decreases, and a performance is performed in which the middle symbol (here, the middle 4 symbol) that is the same as the reach symbol (here, the left 4 symbol and the right 4 symbol) descends so as to approach the pay line defined by the reach symbol.

[0285] (Reach pattern shrinking movement performance) Here, if a variation performance pattern that develops directly from a normal reach to an SPSP reach without passing through an SP reach is set by the sub-CPU 91 at the start of the variation, a reach symbol shrinking movement performance (see FIG. 9(D)) is performed following the normal reach (see FIG. 11(B)). Specifically, when the scroll display of the middle row of symbols in the normal reach is being performed, the same middle symbol as the reach symbol (here, the middle 4 symbol) passes through the effective line without stopping on the effective line, and then the scroll speed of the middle row of symbols increases, and after a state in which it is difficult to distinguish the middle symbol, the middle symbol becomes invisible. Then, as exemplified in FIG. 11(B), in the process in which the left 4 symbols are reduced and move to the upper left area of ​​the display screen 70, they rotate clockwise once with the scroll direction as the axis and then move to the upper left area, and at the same time, in the process in which the right 4 symbols are reduced and move to the upper right area of ​​the display screen 70, they rotate clockwise once with the scroll direction as the axis and then move to the upper right area.

[0286] (The performance pattern is displayed in the first display mode) By performing this type of reach symbol shrinking movement performance, the reach symbols are displayed in a pseudo-stop state in a shrinking state in the upper left and right areas until the end of the variable display of the first special symbol (see Figure 9 (E) and Figure 11 (C)). Figure 11 (C) shows an example in which the left four symbols are displayed in a pseudo-stop state in a shrinking state in the upper left area, and the right four symbols are displayed in a pseudo-stop state in a shrinking state in the upper right area.

[0287] In this way, when the reach symbol is shrunk in the upper left and right areas and is displayed in a pseudo-stop state, the SPSP reach (first route performance) begins (see Fig. 9(F) and Fig. 11(D)). When this SPSP reach begins, although not shown in Fig. 11(D), a performance image of the second half battle or the like is displayed in the central area of ​​the display screen 70 as the SPSP reach performance image displayed during the SPSP reach (see Fig. 9(G)).

[0288] (First possibility suggestion) Next, in the process of the SPSP reach progressing while the reach symbols are displayed in a pseudo-stop state in a reduced state in the upper left and right areas, a first possibility suggestion effect may be performed (see FIG. 9(H) and FIG. 11(E)), suggesting that a winning notification effect (see FIG. 9(S)) may be executed. In this embodiment, the first possibility suggestion effect is an effect in which a possibility suggestion character indicating the degree of possibility that a winning notification effect will be executed is displayed between the left and right reach symbols in the upper area of ​​the display screen 70, and FIG. 11(E) shows an example of a state in which the character "CHANCE" is displayed as the possibility suggestion character.

[0289] In this embodiment, two types of possibility suggestion characters are prepared: "CHANCE" and "VERY GOOD CHANCE". The first possibility suggestion effect displaying the characters "VERY GOOD CHANCE" has a higher reliability of a jackpot than the first possibility suggestion effect displaying the characters "CHANCE".

[0290] Furthermore, this first possibility suggestion effect is an effect that can be executed when the SPSP reach effect is progressing along the first performance route, but it will not be executed when the SPSP reach effect is progressing along the second performance route, and can be said to be an effect exclusive to the first performance route.

[0291] Although not shown in Fig. 9, Fig. 11(F) illustrates an example of a first effect button operation promotion effect being performed in the latter half of the SPSP reach or later, which encourages the player to operate the first effect button 35. In this first effect button operation promotion effect, a first effect button image imitating the first effect button 35 and a valid period gauge indicating the remaining time of the valid period during which the operation of the first effect button 35 is valid are displayed on the display screen 70.

[0292] Here, if the player operates the first effect button 35 within the effective period related to the first effect button operation promotion effect in FIG. 11(F), or if the effective period ends without operating the first effect button 35, for example, a cut-in is performed in which a predetermined cut-in image is superimposed on the effect image (other than the reach pattern) displayed on the display screen 70 (see FIG. 11(G)). This cut-in is an effect that suggests the degree of possibility that a winning notification effect will be executed in the current pattern change, and there are three types of cut-ins prepared: weak cut-in, medium cut-in, and strong cut-in. The weak cut-in is an effect that is expressed entirely in green and displays a cut-in image showing one character, the medium cut-in is an effect that is expressed entirely in red and displays a cut-in image showing two characters, and the strong cut-in is an effect that is expressed entirely in gold and displays a cut-in image showing three characters. Here, if the above three types of cut-ins are arranged in order of the probability of winning (the probability that the winning notification performance will be performed in this pattern change) from low to high, the order is weak cut-in, medium cut-in, and strong cut-in. Note that Figure 11(G) shows an example of a strong cut-in being performed.

[0293] In this way, when a cut-in is made and the SPSP reach reaches its final stage, a second effect button operation promotion effect is performed (see FIG. 11(H)), which encourages the player to operate the second effect button 36, although this is not shown in FIG. 9. In this second effect button operation promotion effect, as exemplified in FIG. 11(H), a second effect button image that imitates the second effect button 36, text indicating the operation content of the second effect button 36 such as "Press!", and a validity period gauge indicating the remaining time of the validity period during which the operation of the second effect button 36 is valid are displayed.

[0294] Here, if the result of the first special symbol determination executed by the main CPU 81 at the start of the current symbol variation is a "miss," then in response to the second effect button 36 being operated during the effective period for the second effect button operation prompt effect, or the effective period for the second effect button operation prompt effect ending without the second effect button 36 being operated, a defeat effect (see FIG. 9(I) and FIG. 11(I)) showing the main character being defeated by the enemy character is performed as an operation-responsive effect. FIG. 11(I) illustrates an example of the defeat effect being performed, showing the enemy character leaving after defeating the main character.

[0295] In this way, when a defeat effect is performed as the result effect of the battle effect (later battle) during the SPSP reach, although it is not shown in Fig. 11, three effect symbols indicating a reach losing number (for example, here, the three effect symbols of "434") are pseudo-stopped just before the end of this pattern change, and as the losing symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol, a loss notification effect (see Fig. 9(J)) is performed in which the three effect symbols indicating the reach losing number are stopped. In this way, when a loss notification effect is performed, the repeat number effect symbol attention effect is not performed.

[0296] (Attention to the double numbers) On the other hand, in the example of the performance shown in Fig. 11, if the result of the first special symbol determination executed at the start of the current symbol variation is "jackpot", in response to the second button 36 being operated during the effective period of the second button operation prompting effect, or the effective period of the second button operation prompting effect ending without the second button 36 being operated, a victory effect (see Fig. 9(Q)) showing the hero character winning against the enemy character and a repeat number performance pattern attention effect (see Fig. 9(R)) that draws attention to the performance pattern suggesting that a jackpot game will be played are performed as operation-responsive effects, instead of a defeat effect. In the example of the performance shown in Fig. 11, a reach is achieved with four symbols, so a performance that draws attention to the three performance symbols that show the repeat number of "444" is performed as a repeat number performance pattern attention effect. In this way, when the victory effect and the repeating number effect symbol attention effect are performed, the three effect symbols representing the repeating numbers "444" are pseudo-stopped and displayed in their normal size, and as the jackpot symbol is stopped and displayed as the first special symbol, these three effect symbols representing the repeating numbers "444" will stop for good.

[0297] So far, with reference to Figure 11 (and Figure 9), we have explained the presentation that takes place during an SPSP reach, taking as an example the case where a normal reach progresses directly to an SPSP reach and the presentation of the first presentation route proceeds. However, the presentation of the first presentation route is also performed in the same way when the presentation proceeds directly from the reach establishment presentation of Figure 9(B) (here, an even pattern reach establishment presentation) to the reach pattern reduction movement presentation of Figure 9(D), or when the presentation proceeds from the reach establishment presentation of Figure 9(B) (here, an odd pattern reach establishment presentation) to the reach pattern reduction movement presentation of Figure 9(D) via the reach pattern attention presentation of Figure 9(C).

[0298] <Reach pattern attention performance → 1st performance route performance> Figure 17 is a screen diagram showing a specific example of a series of effects in which a reach pattern attention effect (see Figure 9(C)) is followed by a reach pattern reduction movement effect (see Figure 9(D)), up until just before the first effect route starts as an SPSP reach effect.

[0299] In Fig. 17(A), a state where the reach establishment inciting performance (see Fig. 9(A)) is performed similarly to Fig. 16(A) described above, etc. Here, when the sub-CPU 91 sets the reach establishment by the 7 symbol at the start of the current symbol fluctuation, the following performance is performed.

[0300] That is, when the reach establishment encouraging performance of Fig. 17(A) is performed, next, the left 7 symbol and the right 7 symbol are simultaneously slowly lowered in the left and right symbol slow movement performance (see Fig. 17(B)). This left and right symbol slow movement performance exemplified in Fig. 17(B) is performed in the same manner as the left and right symbol slow movement performance described above based on Fig. 13(D).

[0301] When the left 7 symbols and the right 7 symbols drop to a predetermined height in the vertical direction of the display screen 70 by the left and right symbol slow movement effect of Fig. 17(B), a first button operation promotion effect is performed to encourage the player to operate the first button 35 (see Fig. 16(C)). As described above based on Fig. 13(E), a first button operation promotion effect is performed to encourage the player to operate the first button 35.

[0302] (Reach completion effect with odd numbers) Here, since the establishment of a reach with 7 symbols is set at the start of the current symbol fluctuation, a reach establishment effect (see FIG. 9(B)) that notifies that a reach with 7 symbols has been established is performed in response to the player operating the first effect button 35, or in response to the expiration of the effective period related to the first effect button operation prompt effect of FIG. 17(C) without the player operating the first effect button 35 (see FIG. 17(D)). This reach establishment effect of FIG. 17(D) is performed in the same manner as the reach establishment effect described above based on FIG. 13(F).

[0303] (Attention to reach patterns) In this way, when the reach completion performance (odd number pattern reach completion performance: see FIG. 9(B)) that notifies the reach completion by the 7 symbol is performed, the reach pattern attention performance (see FIG. 9(C)) is performed following this reach completion performance (see FIG. 17(E)-(G)). Note that the reach pattern attention performance here is performed in the same manner as the reach pattern attention performance described above based on FIG. 13(G)-(I), so a detailed description here is omitted.

[0304] Next, when the performance progresses from the reach symbol attention performance (see Fig. 9(C), Fig. 17(E)-(G)) to the performance of the first performance route of the SPSP reach (see Fig. 9), the following performance is performed. Specifically, a huge 7 symbol displayed by the combined performance of Fig. 17(G) is separated into a left 7 symbol and a right 7 symbol, and a reach symbol separation and reduction performance is performed (see Fig. 17(H)), which shows how these 7 symbols are reduced and move in directions away from each other. Fig. 17(H) shows how the left 7 symbol moves leftward and the right 7 symbol moves rightward at the same time. In this way, when one giant 7 symbol is separated into two 7 symbols (a left 7 symbol and a right 7 symbol) by the reach symbol separation and reduction performance of Figure 17 (H), although not shown in the figure, the left 7 symbol and the right 7 symbol each return to the position that was displayed during the reach establishment performance (see Figure 17 (D)), and are temporarily displayed in a pseudo-stop state at that position.

[0305] In this way, after a reach symbol attention performance (see Figures 9(C), 17(E)-(G)) that draws attention to the 7 symbol as a reach symbol is performed, a reach symbol separation reduction performance (see Figure 17(H)) is performed, and then a reach symbol reduction movement performance is performed (see Figures 9(D), 17(I)). This reach symbol reduction movement performance exemplified in Figure 17(I) is performed in the same manner as the reach symbol reduction movement performance described above based on Figure 11(B), except that the performance symbols that are reduced and moved are different. Then, as is clear from the notation in Figures 11(B)-(I), when the reach symbol reduction movement performance of Figure 17(I) is performed, the performance will progress to the performance of the first performance route of the SPSP reach.

[0306] Here, after the reach symbol attention effect (see FIGS. 17(E) to (G)) that draws attention to the seven symbols as the reach symbols, the reach symbol separation reduction effect (see FIG. 17(H)) and the reach symbol reduction movement effect (see FIG. 17(I)) that separate one large seven symbol into two seven symbols (left seven symbol and right seven symbol) were taken as an example for explanation. However, when performing the reach symbol attention effect that draws attention to an odd number of symbols different from the seven symbols (for example, three symbols) and then performing the effect of the first effect route, except for the difference in the reach symbols, the effect will proceed in the same flow as FIGS. 17(E) to (I).

[0307] Note that the reach symbol separation reduction effect (see FIG. 17(H)) and the reach symbol reduction movement effect (see FIG. 17(I)) are performed when the effect proceeds to the effect of the first effect route of the SPSP reach after the reach symbol attention effect. When the effect proceeds to the effect of the second effect route of the SPSP reach (see FIG. 9) after the reach symbol attention effect, these reach symbol separation reduction effect and reach symbol reduction movement effect are not performed, and other effects are performed.

[0308] <Effect of the second effect route of SPSP reach> Next, while referring to FIGS. 9, 14, and 15, the flow and specific examples of the effect of the second effect route shown in FIG. 9 will be described. Here, FIGS. 14 and 15 are screen diagrams showing specific examples of the effect of the second effect route of the SPSP reach. Note that FIGS. 14 and 15 show specific examples of the effect of the second effect route when the reach establishment effect (see FIGS. 9(B) and 13(F)) and the reach symbol attention effect (see FIGS. 9(C) and 13(G) to (I)) are performed and then the effect of the second effect route shown in FIG. 9 (effects after FIG. 9(K)) is performed.

[0309] When the second performance route is followed by the reach symbol attention performance (see Fig. 9(C), Fig. 13(G)-(I)), the reach symbol split performance (see Fig. 9(K), Fig. 14(A)-(B)) is performed after the reach symbol attention performance. This reach symbol split performance is a performance in which one huge reach symbol (one huge 7 symbol in the example shown in Fig. 13(I)) displayed by the reach symbol attention performance is split into many tiny reach symbols (here, very small 7 symbols), and Fig. 14(A)-(B) shows an example in which continuous explosions occur for one huge 7 symbol, many very small 7 symbols fly off from the huge 7 symbol, and the huge 7 symbol gradually becomes smaller as a result.

[0310] It should be noted that the above-mentioned reach symbol separation and reduction performance based on Figure 17 (H) is a performance in which one giant 7 symbol is separated into two normal-sized 7 symbols in order to progress the performance to the first performance route of the SPSP reach. However, the reach symbol split performance (see Figures 14 (A) to (B)) is a performance that differs from the reach symbol separation and reduction performance in that the tiny 7 symbol, which is the reach symbol after the split, is significantly smaller than the two normal-sized 7 symbols described above, and the number of tiny 7 symbols after the split is extremely large (compared to the two normal-sized 7 symbols described above).

[0311] The reach symbol splitting effect (see Fig. 9(K) and Fig. 14(A)-(B)) is an effect in which one huge reach symbol (e.g., 7 symbol) displayed by the reach symbol attention effect (see Fig. 9(C)) that draws attention to the reach symbol (here, odd number symbol) is split into many very small reach symbols (e.g., very small 7 symbol). For this reason, the reach symbol splitting effect (see Fig. 9(K)) is sometimes executed after the reach symbol attention effect, but when the reach symbol attention effect is not executed, that is, when the reach establishment effect (see Fig. 9(B)) that notifies the establishment of the reach by the even number symbol is executed, the reach symbol splitting effect (see Fig. 9(K)) is not executed.

[0312] (The performance pattern is displayed in the second display mode) Next, when the reach symbol splitting performance (see FIG. 9(K), FIG. 14(A)-(B)) is performed, a background image showing a very small reach symbol is displayed (see FIG. 9(L), FIG. 14(C)). Specifically, the sub-CPU 91 changes the background image from a normal background image (not shown) state to a background image of a very small odd symbol pattern (here, a very small 7 symbol background of a very small 7 symbol pattern). This allows the player to specify the reach symbol based on the background image displayed during the performance of the second performance route in the SPSP reach. In addition, since the 7 symbol in this embodiment is a performance pattern that, if the symbols are aligned, determines the winning of 3R probability A (see FIG. 6(B)), it is possible to effectively increase the player's expectation for the probability big win by continuously displaying the very small 7 symbol background during the performance of the second performance route.

[0313] In addition, since the extremely small 7 symbol background is displayed during the variable display of the first special symbol in the normal game state, for example, the extremely small 7 symbol background is displayed on the entire screen of the display screen 70 so that each extremely small 7 symbol represented by the extremely small 7 symbol background appears to oscillate. Therefore, the player can recognize that the variable display of the first special symbol is being performed by seeing each extremely small 7 symbol oscillating.

[0314] Here, the display modes of the reach symbols when the SPSP reach progresses along the first presentation route and when the SPSP reach progresses along the second presentation route will be compared.

[0315] When the SPSP reach progresses on the first performance route, for example, as described above based on Figures 11(C)-(I), the left symbol as the reach symbol is displayed in a pseudo-stop state in the upper left area in a reduced state, and the right symbol as the reach symbol is displayed in a pseudo-stop state in the upper right area in a reduced state. Note that these left and right symbols displayed when the performance progresses on the first performance route are superimposed on the background image, although they are not shown in the figure.

[0316] On the other hand, when the SPSP reach progresses via the second presentation route, there is no concept of left or right patterns, and the reach pattern is represented by an odd pattern background such as the above-mentioned extremely small 7 pattern background, as exemplified in Figures 14(C) to (I) and Figure 15(A).

[0317] In this way, since the display mode of the reach pattern differs between the first and second presentation routes, the player can easily determine whether the presentation is progressing on the first presentation route or the second presentation route based on the display mode of the reach pattern during an SPSP reach.

[0318] In addition, Figures 14(C) to (I) and Figure 15(A) show an example of a state in which a minimal 7 pattern background is displayed because a reach with a 7 symbol has been achieved, but if, for example, a reach with a 3 symbol has been achieved, a minimal 3 pattern background with a minimal 3 symbol pattern will be displayed, and if, for example, a reach with a 5 symbol has been achieved, a minimal 5 pattern background with a minimal 5 symbol pattern will be displayed.

[0319] However, such a minimal odd pattern background is displayed only when a reach is achieved using odd patterns and a reach pattern attention effect (see Figure 9 (C)) is performed to draw attention to the odd patterns as reach patterns, so the minimal even pattern background of an even pattern will never be displayed.

[0320] When the display of the extremely small odd number pattern background (here, the extremely small 7 pattern background) starts as described above, an extremely small reach pattern intermittent illumination effect in the background (see FIG. 9(M)) starts, which intermittently illuminates the extremely small reach pattern (here, the extremely small 7 pattern) represented by the extremely small odd number pattern background. This extremely small reach pattern intermittent illumination effect in the background is an effect in which each extremely small odd number pattern (the extremely small 7 pattern in the example shown in FIG. 14) represented by the extremely small odd number pattern background is illuminated intermittently, and FIG. 14(D), (F), and (H) show an example of the state in which each extremely small 7 pattern is illuminated, and FIG. 14(E), (G), and (I) show an example of the state in which each extremely small 7 pattern is not illuminated.

[0321] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when a reach is achieved with an odd numbered symbol, a reach pattern attention display is performed to draw attention to the odd numbered symbol, but when the SPSP reach display is progressing on the second display route, the extremely small reach pattern intermittent lighting display in the background is performed intermittently as described above, so it is possible to draw attention to the reach pattern (odd numbered symbol) not only when a reach is achieved with an odd numbered symbol, but also during the display of the second display route of the SPSP reach.

[0322] Next, the SPSP reach begins (see FIG. 9(N) and FIG. 14(E)). The presentation of the SPSP reach here is basically the same as when the presentation of the first presentation route progresses, and when the SPSP reach begins, although not shown in FIG. 14(E), a presentation image of the second half battle and the like are displayed in the entire screen area of ​​the display screen 70 as the SPSP reach presentation image displayed during the SPSP reach (see FIG. 9(O)).

[0323] When the first presentation route is being played, the left-hand symbols are displayed in a reduced size in the upper left area, and the right-hand symbols are displayed in a reduced size in the upper right area, so that the latter half of the battle is played using the central area of ​​the display screen 70, as described above with reference to Fig. 9(G). In contrast, when the second presentation route is being played, the reach symbols are displayed using a minimal odd number symbol background, so that the latter half of the battle can be played using a wider display area than when the first presentation route is being played.

[0324] (Second possibility suggestion) Next, in the process of progressing the second presentation route of the SPSP reach, a second possibility suggestion presentation may be performed (see FIG. 9(S)), suggesting that there is a possibility that a winning notification presentation (see FIG. 9(P) and FIG. 14(G)) will be executed. In this embodiment, the second possibility suggestion presentation is a presentation in which vertically long strip-shaped images showing characters indicating the degree of possibility that a winning notification presentation will be executed are displayed on both the left and right sides of the display screen 70, and FIG. 14(G) illustrates an example of the second possibility suggestion presentation being performed in which a strip-shaped image showing the characters "SUPER" is displayed on the left side of the display screen 70, and a strip-shaped image showing the characters "CHANCE!" is displayed on the right side of the display screen 70.

[0325] In this embodiment, the presentation pattern of the second possibility suggestion presentation is only one type, as exemplified in Figure 14 (G), and as the presentation of the second presentation route progresses, there are cases where the second possibility suggestion presentation is executed and cases where the second possibility suggestion presentation is not executed, with the former case having a higher reliability of a jackpot than the latter case (i.e., the winning notification presentation of Figure 9 (S) is more likely to be executed during the current pattern change).

[0326] Therefore, when the presentation of the second presentation route is progressing as the presentation of the SPSP reach, the player can enjoy the game while hoping for the second possibility suggestion presentation to occur.

[0327] Furthermore, this second possibility suggestion effect is an effect that can be executed when the SPSP reach effect is progressing along the second performance route, but it will not be executed when the SPSP reach effect is progressing along the first performance route, and can be said to be an effect exclusive to the second performance route.

[0328] Although not shown in Figure 9, Figure 14 (H) illustrates an example of a first performance button operation promotion effect being performed after the latter half of the SPSP reach, urging the player to operate the first performance button 35. However, since this first performance button operation promotion effect is performed in the same manner as during the performance of the first performance route described above based on Figure 11 (F), a detailed explanation will be omitted here.

[0329] Fig. 14(I) shows an example of a cut-in being performed in response to the first performance button 35 being operated during the valid period related to the first performance button operation prompt performance of Fig. 14(H), or in response to the valid period ending without the first performance button 35 being operated. The cut-ins here include weak cut-ins, medium cut-ins, and strong cut-ins, just like the cut-ins that occur during the performance of the first performance route, and Fig. 14(H) shows an example of a medium cut-in being performed.

[0330] In this way, when the cut-in is performed and the SPSP reach reaches the end, a second button operation prompting effect is performed to prompt the player to operate the second button 36 (see FIG. 11(H)), although this is not shown in FIG. 9. This second button operation prompting effect is performed in the same manner as the second button operation prompting effect in FIG. 11(H) that is performed during the first performance route, except that it is performed with the extremely small 7 symbol background displayed.

[0331] Here, if the result of the first special symbol determination executed by the main CPU 81 at the start of this symbol variation is "miss," then in response to the second effect button 36 being operated during the effective period of the second effect button operation prompt effect, or the effective period of the second effect button operation prompt effect ending without the second effect button 36 being operated, a defeat effect similar to that described above based on FIG. 11(I) (see FIG. 9(T)) is performed, and a background destruction effect is performed (see FIG. 15(G)) showing the panel of the extremely small 7 symbol background being destroyed as a failure suggestion effect suggesting a miss. The display of the extremely small 7 symbol background ends, and the normal background is restored.

[0332] After that, as a miss notification effect in Figure 9(U), three performance patterns indicating a miss of "767" are pseudo-stopped just before the display of the changing first special pattern ends (see Figure 15(H)), and as the miss pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern, the three performance patterns indicating the miss of "767" stop for real (see Figure 15(I)).

[0333] (Attention to the double numbers) On the other hand, if the result of the first special symbol determination executed by the main CPU 81 at the start of the current symbol variation is "jackpot", in response to the second symbol button 36 being operated during the effective period of the second symbol button operation prompting effect, or the effective period of the second symbol button operation prompting effect ending without the second symbol button 36 being operated, a victory effect (see FIG. 9(Q)) showing the main character winning against the enemy character and a double-digit symbol attention effect (see FIG. 9(R)) that draws attention to the effect symbol that suggests that a jackpot game will be played are performed as operation-responsive effects. Note that the victory effect is omitted in FIG. 15, and specific examples of the double-digit symbol attention effect are shown in FIG. 15(B) to (E).

[0334] Here, when the performance proceeds on the first performance route, regardless of whether the three performance symbols showing the repeating numbers are odd or even numbers, the same repeating numbers performance symbol attention performance as the above-mentioned repeating numbers performance symbol attention performance is performed based on Figs. 16(G)-(H). This is because when the performance proceeds on the first performance route, the extremely small odd number pattern background (see Figs. 14(C)-(I)) is not displayed. On the other hand, as exemplified in Figs. 14 and 15, when the repeating numbers performance symbol attention performance is performed after the performance proceeds on the second performance route with the extremely small odd number pattern background (here, extremely small 7 pattern background) displayed, a repeating numbers performance symbol attention performance that is partially different from the case when the performance proceeds on the first performance route is performed. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0335] That is, in response to the operation of the second effect button 36 in response to the second effect button operation prompt effect in Fig. 15(A), a victory effect is first performed, which shows the main character winning against the enemy character, although this is not shown in Fig. 15. Then, as a part of the repeat number effect pattern attention effect following this victory effect, each extremely small odd number pattern represented by the extremely small odd number pattern background is collected (moved) to each of the display areas of the left pattern display area where the left pattern is displayed in a pseudo stop, the middle pattern display area where the middle pattern is displayed in a pseudo stop, and the right pattern display area where the right pattern is displayed in a pseudo stop, and the extremely small odd number patterns collected in each display area are combined to generate an effect pattern, and by repeating this series of effects, a collection combination expansion effect is performed in which the same effect pattern that appeared in each display area is gradually enlarged (see Figs. 15(B) to (C)). Figures 15(B) to (C) show examples of how the tiny 7 symbols displayed in various places on the display screen 70 gather and combine into one of the three display areas, causing the 7 symbols generated in each display area to gradually become larger.

[0336] In this way, as a result of the group combination expansion performance, when the normal size 7 symbol is pseudo-stopped and displayed in each of the right symbol display area, the center symbol display area, and the right symbol display area, the same repeated number performance symbol attention performance as described above based on Figures 16(G)-(H) is executed continuously (see Figures 15(D)-(E)). Figures 15(D)-(E) show an example of how the attention to these three performance symbols increases as the three performance symbols showing the repeated number "777" pseudo-stopped and displayed by the group combination expansion performance of Figures 15(B)-(C) are gradually enlarged and displayed.

[0337] In this way, when a victory effect (see Figure 9 (Q)) and a double-digit effect symbol attention effect (see Figure 9 (R), Figures 15 (B) to (E)) are performed in response to the operation of the second effect button 36, the three effect symbols indicating the double-digit number "777" are pseudo-stopped and displayed in their normal size (see Figure 15 (F)), and a jackpot symbol (here, jackpot symbol X1 indicating a win in 3R special mode A: see Figure 6 (B)) is displayed as the first special symbol, and a win notification effect (see Figure 9 (S)) is performed in which these three effect symbols indicating the double-digit number "777" are actually stopped.

[0338] (Other configurations regarding the double-digit pattern attention performance) The following configuration may be adopted for the double-digit performance symbol attention performance. That is, in this embodiment, when the first performance route of the SPSP reach is performed and then the winning notification performance is performed, the double-digit performance symbol attention performance illustrated in FIG. 16(G)-(H) is executed, and when the second performance route of the SPSP reach is performed and then the winning notification performance is performed, the double-digit performance symbol attention performance illustrated in FIG. 16(G)-(H) which is partially different from the double-digit performance symbol attention performance illustrated in FIG. 16(G)-(H) is executed. In contrast, in other embodiments, for example, when the performance of the second performance route progresses, the double-digit performance symbol attention performance illustrated in FIG. 15(D)-(E) may be executed without performing the group combination expansion performance illustrated in FIG. 15(B)-(C), so that when the performance progresses on the second performance route, the double-digit performance symbol attention performance common to the case where the performance progresses on the first performance route may be executed.

[0339] In addition, in this embodiment, an example is described in which the three symbols showing the same number are enlarged at the same time as the double numbers symbol attention effect, but as long as the player can be attracted to the three symbols showing the same number, other effects different from the effects exemplified in this embodiment may be executed as the double numbers symbol attention effect. An example of the other effects here is, for example, a performance in which a decorative image of a predetermined color is added to the three symbols showing the same number in a pseudo-stop display state. In addition, it is also possible to adopt a method of increasing the attention of the three symbols showing the same number by combining the movement or rotation of the three symbols showing the same number with such other effects.

[0340] [Features of each noteworthy performance and related performances executed in normal performance mode] Up to this point, we have mainly referred to Figures 8 to 18 to explain the notable effects performed when the effects are controlled in the normal effect mode, and the flow and specific examples of the notable effects. Below, we will explain the notable effects performed in the normal effect mode and the characteristics of the related effects, with reference to Figure 19. Here, Figure 19 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the notable effects performed in the normal effect mode and the characteristics of the related effects.

[0341] In addition, in Figure 19, a performance whose change type is "pre-target change" is a pre-reading performance that is performed in a pattern change prior to the pre-read target change based on the advance judgment result related to the pre-read target change, and a performance whose change type is "pre-read target change" (the change in question) is a performance that is performed in the pre-read target change based on the judgment result of the first special pattern judgment performed at the start of the pre-read target change.

[0342] (Attention to the double numbers) The gaming machine 1 of this embodiment is configured to be able to execute a double-digit performance pattern attention effect as a "different attention effect" different from the reach pattern attention effect that draws attention to the second performance pattern (odd number pattern displayed as a reach pattern), the first performance pattern attention effect that draws attention to the first performance pattern (for example, even number pattern), and the second performance pattern attention effect that draws attention to the second performance pattern (for example, odd number pattern displayed when the reach performance is not performed). Specifically, the gaming machine 1 is configured to execute a double-digit performance pattern attention effect that draws attention to a performance pattern (three performance patterns showing double numbers in this embodiment) that suggests that a jackpot game will be executed after executing a reach after performance (an example of an "expectation performance") shown in FIG. 9(C) and thereafter, which draws attention to a winning notification performance shown in FIG. 9(S).

[0343] This double numbers production symbol attention effect is as described above based on Figure 8 (Q), Figure 9 (R), Figure 15 (B)-(E), Figure 16 (G)-(H), etc., and has the feature that it can be executed when the result of the first special symbol determination executed by the main CPU 81 at the start of the variation of the first special symbol in the normal game state is "jackpot", but it is not executed when the result of the first special symbol determination is "miss". From this, it can be said that the double numbers production symbol attention effect is an effect that is highly likely to be a jackpot when it occurs (i.e., an effect with a jackpot reliability of 100%) and is a definite suggestion effect that definitely suggests that a winning notification effect will be executed.

[0344] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, only in the first case where the winning notification effect is executed in the SPSP reach, the doublet effect pattern attention effect is executed prior to the winning notification effect, and in the second case where the winning notification effect is executed in the normal reach, or in the third case where the winning notification effect is executed in the SP reach, the doublet effect pattern attention effect is not executed. On the other hand, in other embodiments, in the second case or the third case, the doublet effect pattern attention effect may be executed prior to the winning notification effect, as in the first case.

[0345] (First performance design noteworthy performance) As described above based on Figures 8 and 12, the first performance pattern attention effect (see Figure 8(D)) is an effect that draws attention to the first performance pattern (in this embodiment, an even number pattern) displayed by the weak chance eye effect (see Figure 8(C)) when the pre-target fluctuation in which the no-reach effect and miss notification effect are performed ends (see Figures 12(C) to (D)), and in this embodiment, the jackpot reliability of the first performance pattern attention effect is set to approximately 15% (see Figure 19).

[0346] In this embodiment, as described above, the jackpot reliability of the first performance symbol attention effect is set to a high value of about 15%, and in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when the first performance symbol attention effect is executed (together with the weak chance eye effect) in the target pre-change, some kind of reach effect is always executed in the subsequent look-ahead target change. This is because the sub-CPU 91 executes the first performance symbol attention effect only when it obtains advance judgment information indicating that the change pattern of the first special symbol in which some reach effect will be executed in the look-ahead target change is selected at the start of the look-ahead target change. Also, when the weak chance eye effect and the first performance symbol attention effect are combined in the target pre-change, it is easier to execute the double number performance symbol attention effect (and the winning notification effect) in the look-ahead target change than when the weak chance eye effect is executed alone in the target pre-change. For this reason, by executing the first performance pattern attention performance in the pre-target change before a reach is established in the pre-read target change and a reach performance is performed, it is possible to direct the player's attention to the performance pattern, and as a result, it is possible to effectively suggest that there is a possibility that a attention performance such as a repeat number performance pattern attention performance will be executed in the pre-read target change.

[0347] (Second performance design noteworthy performance) As described above based on Figures 8 and 12, the second performance pattern attention effect (see Figure 8(F)) is an effect that draws attention to the second performance pattern (in this embodiment, an odd pattern) displayed by the strong chance eye effect (see Figure 8(E)) when the pre-target fluctuation in which the no-reach effect and miss notification effect are performed ends (see Figures 12(G) to (H)), and in this embodiment, the jackpot reliability of the second performance pattern attention effect is set to approximately 31% (see Figure 19).

[0348] In this embodiment, as described above, the jackpot reliability of the second performance symbol attention performance is set to about 31%, which is higher than the jackpot reliability of the first performance symbol attention performance (about 15% in this embodiment), and in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when the second performance symbol attention performance is executed in the target pre-variation (together with the strong chance eye performance), the reach performance of SP reach or more (at least one of SP reach or SPSP reach) is always executed in the subsequent pre-reading target variation. This is because the sub-CPU91 executes the second performance symbol attention performance only when it obtains advance judgment information indicating that the variation pattern of the first special pattern, which will result in at least one of SP reach and SPSP reach being executed in the pre-reading target variation, is selected at the start of the pre-reading target variation. In addition, the second performance symbol attention effect has a feature that it is easier to execute the double numbers performance symbol attention effect (and the winning notification effect) in the pre-reading target change when the strong chance eye effect and the second performance symbol attention effect are combined in the target pre-reading change than when the strong chance eye effect is executed alone in the target pre-reading change. Therefore, by executing the second performance symbol attention effect in the target pre-reading change before the reach is established in the pre-reading target change and the reach effect of SP reach or more is executed, it is possible to direct the player's attention to the performance symbol more than when the first performance symbol attention effect is executed, and as a result, it is possible to effectively suggest that there is a possibility that the attention effect such as the double numbers performance symbol attention effect will be executed in the pre-reading target change.

[0349] (Attention to reach patterns) The reach pattern attention effect (see Figures 8(V) and 9(C)) is an attention effect that draws attention to the second performance pattern (in this embodiment, an odd number pattern) when a reach is achieved with the performance pattern, and when a reach is achieved with the performance pattern and the first performance pattern (in this embodiment, an even number pattern) is targeted, no attention effect that draws attention to this first performance pattern is executed.

[0350] As is clear from the notation in FIG. 8, the reach symbol attention effect (see FIG. 8(V)) is an effect executed following the reach achievement effect (see FIG. 8(U)) following the reach achievement teasing effect (see FIG. 8(S)) before the start of the SPSP reach (see FIG. 8(P)), and in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, the reach symbol attention effect is not executed following the reach achievement effect of FIG. 8(K). In this way, the reach symbol attention effect is not executed when executing the reach achievement effect of FIG. 8(K) because, after the reach achievement effect of FIG. 8(K), a miss notification effect (see FIG. 8(N)) is often executed in the normal reach (see FIG. 8(L)), and if the reach symbol attention effect is executed before the start of such a normal reach, it gives the player an unpleasant feeling, and there is a concern that it will decrease the interest instead of increasing the interest.

[0351] In this manner, the reach symbol attention effect (see FIG. 8(V)) executed following the reach establishment effect (see FIG. 8(U)) executed after the reach establishment prompting effect (see FIG. 8(S)) has a jackpot reliability set to about 39% in this embodiment. In this manner, the reach establishment prompting effect, which has a relatively high jackpot reliability, is executed when a reach is established with odd symbols in this embodiment, but is not executed when a reach is established with even symbols. Therefore, the player can enjoy the game while expecting the reach establishment effect (see FIG. 8(U)) that notifies the establishment of a reach with an odd symbol to be executed, rather than the reach establishment effect (see FIG. 8(U)) that notifies the establishment of a reach with an even symbol to be executed.

[0352] (A performance in which the reach pattern is displayed in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas) As described above based on Figures 9(D) to (F) and Figures 16(D) to (F), in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when the first presentation route is presented as an SPSP reach presentation, a presentation in which the presentation patterns are displayed in the first display mode is performed in which the left pattern as the reach pattern is displayed in a quasi-stopped state in the upper left area of ​​the display screen 70, and the right pattern as the reach pattern is displayed in a quasi-stopped state in the upper right area of ​​the display screen 70.

[0353] As is clear from the notation in Fig. 9, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, in some cases where the doublet performance symbol attention effect (see Fig. 9(R)) and the winning notification effect (see Fig. 9(S)) are performed, an effect is performed in which the reach symbol is displayed in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas (see Fig. 9(E)). In the doublet performance symbol attention effect, as described above based on Figs. 16(G)-(H), an effect is performed to draw attention to the three performance symbols showing the doublet, while in the effect in which the reach symbol is displayed in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas, as is clear from a comparison between the notation in Fig. 16(F) and the notation in Figs. 16(G)-(H), an effect is performed to subtly draw attention to the left and right symbols of the above three performance symbols. From this, it can be said that the effect of displaying the reach pattern in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas, the double-digit performance pattern attention effect, as shown in Figure 19, is an effect that suggests there is a possibility that the double-digit performance pattern attention effect will be executed, and the reliability of this jackpot is set to approximately 27% in this embodiment.

[0354] (First possibility suggestion) As described above, the first possibility suggestion effect (see Fig. 9(H) and Fig. 11(E)) is an effect in which possibility suggestion characters, which indicate the degree of possibility of a winning notification effect being executed, are displayed between the left and right reach symbols in the upper area of ​​the display screen 70. As described above, in this embodiment, two types of possibility suggestion characters, "CHANCE" and "VERY GOOD CHANCE", are prepared as the possibility suggestion characters, and the jackpot reliability of the first possibility suggestion effect displaying the characters "CHANCE" is set to about 18%, and the jackpot reliability of the first possibility suggestion effect displaying the characters "VERY GOOD CHANCE" is set to about 40%. Fig. 11(E) illustrates the manner in which the first possibility suggestion effect displaying the characters "CHANCE" is performed.

[0355] As is clear from the notation in Figure 9, this first possibility suggestion effect (see Figure 9(H)) is an effect that can be executed when the effect of displaying the reach pattern in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas (see Figure 9(E)) is being performed, i.e., as part of the time when the first performance route is progressing as an SPSP reach performance, but has the characteristic that it is not executed when the second performance route is progressing as an SPSP reach performance (i.e., when a performance is being executed that displays a background image representing an extremely small reach pattern) (see Figure 19).

[0356] In addition, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, based on the result of the advance judgment process (advance judgment information) related to the right of the first special pattern judgment corresponding to the look-ahead target change (see FIG. 8), it is possible to execute an icon change effect targeting a reserved icon suggesting that the look-ahead target change is reserved, and the first possibility suggestion effect has a feature that, when the icon change effect is executed, the first possibility suggestion effect is more likely to be executed than when the icon change effect is not executed. Therefore, by executing an icon change effect targeting a reserved icon suggesting that the look-ahead target change is reserved prior to the start of the look-ahead target change, it is possible to make the player expect that the performance of the first performance route will progress as the performance of the SPSP reach in the look-ahead target change, and that the first possibility suggestion effect will be executed in the process.

[0357] In this embodiment, in order to realize the above-mentioned feature that the first possibility suggestion effect is more likely to be executed when the icon change effect is executed than when the icon change effect is not executed, the sub-CPU 91 performs the following process. That is, when pre-determination information indicating that the first special symbol change pattern in which the SPSP reach is executed in the pre-reading target change is selected at the start of the pre-reading target change is obtained as pre-determination information related to the right of the first special symbol determination corresponding to the pre-reading target change, the icon change effect targeting the reserved icon suggesting that the pre-reading target change is reserved is executed with a higher probability than when pre-determination information indicating that the first special symbol change pattern in which the SPSP reach is not executed in the pre-reading target change is selected at the start of the pre-reading target change is obtained.

[0358] (Displaying a background image showing a very small reach pattern) As described above based on Figures 9(K) to (N) and Figure 14, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when the second presentation route (see Figure 9) is performed as the presentation of an SPSP reach, the background image of the extremely small reach pattern is displayed full-screen on the display screen 70 as a presentation in which the presentation pattern is displayed in the second display mode.For example, Figure 14(C) illustrates a state in which a reach with a 7 pattern has been achieved, so that the extremely small 7 pattern background of the extremely small 7 pattern is displayed full-screen as the background image of the extremely small reach pattern.

[0359] As is clear from the notation in FIG. 9, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, in some cases where the doublet effect pattern attention effect (see FIG. 9(R)) and the winning notification effect (see FIG. 9(S)) are performed, the effect of FIG. 9(L) is performed, displaying a background image representing a very small reach pattern (in this embodiment, a very small odd pattern background). As exemplified in FIG. 19, the jackpot reliability of the effect displaying the background image representing the very small reach pattern is set to about 42% in this embodiment, which is higher than the jackpot reliability of the effect displaying the reach pattern in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas (about 27% in this embodiment). From this, it can be said that the doublet effect pattern attention effect (see FIG. 9(R)) and the winning notification effect (see FIG. 9(S)) are more likely to be performed when the effect displaying the background image representing the very small reach pattern is performed than when the effect displaying the reach pattern in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas is performed.

[0360] As described above based on Fig. 9 and the like, the effect of displaying the reach symbol in a reduced size in the upper left and right areas (see Fig. 9(E)) can be executed regardless of whether the reach symbol is an odd number symbol or an even number symbol, whereas the effect of displaying a background image representing a minimal reach symbol (see Fig. 9(L)) is executed only when the reach symbol is an odd number symbol. And in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when the effect of displaying a background image representing a minimal reach symbol (see Fig. 9(L)) is executed, it is always preceded by an odd number symbol reach establishment effect (see Fig. 9(B)) that notifies the establishment of a reach with an odd number symbol, and a reach symbol attention effect (see Fig. 9(C)) that draws attention to the reach symbol (in this embodiment, an odd number symbol). Therefore, the player can enjoy the game while expecting that an odd number symbol reach completion presentation that notifies the establishment of a reach with an odd number symbol will be executed first, rather than an even number symbol reach completion presentation that notifies the establishment of a reach with an even number symbol, and further, a presentation that displays a background image showing a very small reach symbol will be executed.

[0361] In this way, by successively executing an odd pattern reach establishment effect that notifies the player that a reach has been established with an odd pattern, and a reach pattern attention effect that draws attention to the reach pattern (in this embodiment, an odd pattern), and further executing an effect that displays a background image representing an extremely small reach pattern, it is possible to effectively increase the player's anticipation for the execution of the repeat number appearance pattern attention effect (and win notification effect).

[0362] In addition, the reach symbols (minimal odd symbols: see FIG. 14(C) for example) displayed by the effect of displaying a background image showing a minimal reach symbol (see FIG. 9(L)) are smaller than the reach symbols (left and right symbols: see FIG. 16(F)) displayed by the effect of displaying the reach symbols in reduced size in the upper left and right areas (see FIG. 9(E)). In other words, when the second effect route proceeds as the SPSP reach effect, the displayed reach symbols are smaller than when the first effect route proceeds as the SPSP reach effect. For this reason, the player can enjoy the game while paying attention to the size of the reach symbols displayed during the SPSP reach.

[0363] (Intermittent lighting of extremely small reach patterns in the background) The intermittent illumination effect of the extremely small reach symbol in the background (see FIG. 9(M)) is an effect in which the extremely small reach symbol (in this embodiment, the extremely small odd symbol) represented by the extremely small odd symbol background is illuminated intermittently, and FIG. 14(D)-(I) shows an example of a number of extremely small 7 symbols intermittently illuminating as the extremely small reach symbol. This intermittent illumination effect of the extremely small reach symbol in the background uses the extremely small reach symbol represented by the extremely small odd symbol background, and is characterized in that it is executed only when the extremely small reach symbol is displayed by the extremely small odd symbol background (see FIG. 19).

[0364] In addition, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when an effect displaying a background image representing a tiny reach pattern is executed, an intermittent lighting effect of a tiny reach pattern in the background is always executed as a set, so the jackpot reliability of the intermittent lighting effect of a tiny reach pattern in the background is approximately 42%, the same as that of an effect displaying a background image representing a tiny reach pattern.

[0365] In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, when a reach is achieved with an odd numbered symbol after the reach achievement prompting effect (see Figure 9(A)), the reach achievement effect (see Figure 9(B)) and the reach symbol attention effect (see Figure 9(C)) are executed, and during the performance of the second performance route thereafter, the above-mentioned intermittent lighting effect is executed, so that it is possible to draw the player's attention to the reach symbol not only when a reach is achieved with an odd numbered symbol, but also thereafter.

[0366] (Second possibility suggestion) The second possibility suggestion effect (see Fig. 9(P) and Fig. 14(G)), as described above, is an effect in which vertically long band-shaped images showing characters indicating the degree of possibility of a winning notification effect being executed are displayed on both the left and right sides of the display screen 70, and in this embodiment, the probability of a big win is set to about 55%, as illustrated in Fig. 19. Fig. 14(G) illustrates an example of the second possibility suggestion effect being performed in which a band-shaped image showing the characters "SUPER" is displayed on the left side of the display screen 70, and a band-shaped image showing the characters "CHANCE!" is displayed on the right side of the display screen 70.

[0367] As is clear from the notation in Figure 9, this second possibility suggestion effect (see Figure 9(P)) is an effect that can be executed when an effect that displays a background image representing a tiny reach pattern (see Figure 9(L)) is being performed, i.e., as part of the time when the second presentation route is being performed as an SPSP reach performance, but has the characteristic that it is not executed when the first presentation route is being performed as an SPSP reach performance (i.e., when an effect is being performed in which the reach pattern is displayed in a reduced form in the upper left and right areas) (see Figure 19).

[0368] In addition, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, based on the result of the advance judgment process (advance judgment information) related to the right of the first special pattern judgment corresponding to the look-ahead target change (see FIG. 8), it is possible to execute an icon change effect targeting a reserved icon suggesting that the look-ahead target change is reserved, and the second possibility suggestion effect has a feature that, like the first possibility suggestion effect, when the icon change effect is executed, the second possibility suggestion effect is more likely to be executed than when the icon change effect is not executed. Therefore, by executing an icon change effect targeting a reserved icon suggesting that the look-ahead target change is reserved prior to the start of the look-ahead target change, it is possible to make the player expect that the performance of the second performance route will progress as the performance of the SPSP reach in the look-ahead target change, and that the second possibility suggestion effect will be executed in the process.

[0369] In this embodiment, in order to realize the above-mentioned feature that the second possibility suggestion effect is more likely to be executed when the icon change effect is executed than when the icon change effect is not executed, the sub-CPU 91 performs the following process. That is, when pre-determination information indicating that the first special symbol change pattern in which the SPSP reach is executed in the pre-reading target change is selected at the start of the pre-reading target change is obtained as pre-determination information related to the right of the first special symbol determination corresponding to the pre-reading target change, the icon change effect targeting the reserved icon suggesting that the pre-reading target change is reserved is executed with a higher probability than when pre-determination information indicating that the first special symbol change pattern in which the SPSP reach is not executed in the pre-reading target change is selected at the start of the pre-reading target change is obtained.

[0370] By performing such processing, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, it is possible to effectively suggest that there is a possibility that the first possibility suggestion effect or the second possibility suggestion effect will be executed by executing an icon change effect targeting the reserved icon, which suggests that a pre-read target change is on hold.

[0371] [About the effects that take place during big win games] As described above, when the result of the first special symbol determination in the normal game state is "jackpot", one of the jackpot symbols X1 to X2 (see FIG. 6(B)) is stopped and displayed on the first special symbol display 41. Accordingly, three performance symbols showing a double number such as "222" are stopped on the display screen 70. Here, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, the double number "777" and the double number "333" are performance symbols that definitely notify that the game will be controlled in a probability variable game state after the jackpot game ends, and when 3R probability variable A is selected as the type of jackpot related to the first special symbol determination (when the jackpot symbol X1 is stopped and displayed), one of these double numbers will be stopped on the display screen 70 as one of the three performance symbols that notify the probability variable jackpot.

[0372] In this way, when the three performance symbols showing the repeat numbers of "777" or "333", which definitely notify the probability of a jackpot, stop as the jackpot symbol X1 is displayed, as described above based on Fig. 6(B), a jackpot game including a long opening round game in which the second jackpot hole 28 and the V jackpot hole 287 are long opened is executed. Therefore, during this long opening round game, a launch promotion performance (see Figs. 20(B) and (C)) that encourages the player to launch the game ball aimed at the V jackpot hole 287 is executed as a round-in-round performance, and when the game ball passes through the V jackpot hole 287 during this long opening round game, the launch promotion performance ends, and a V jackpot notification performance (see Fig. 20(D)) that notifies the player that the game ball has won the V jackpot is executed.

[0373] On the one hand, as a type of jackpot related to the first special symbol determination, when 3R sure change A is selected, and when 3R normal (see Fig. 6(B)) is selected, any one of the seven types of triples of "111", "222", "444", "555", "666", "888", and "999" (excluding the triples of "777" and "333") will come to a complete stop on the display screen 70. Here, when the three effect symbols showing the triple of "777" or "333" come to a complete stop, a sure change confirmation notification effect that definitely notifies that it is a sure change jackpot during the opening period of the jackpot game is performed. On the other hand, when the three effect symbols showing any one of the above seven types of triples come to a complete stop, during the opening period of the jackpot game, for example, an operation promotion effect that prompts the player to operate the first effect button 35 is performed, and according to the operation of the first effect button 35, a success effect (an effect that notifies that it is a sure change jackpot) or a failure effect (an effect that notifies that it is a normal jackpot) is performed. Specifically, when the type of jackpot is 3R sure change A, a success effect is executed according to the operation of the first effect button 35, and when the type of jackpot is 3R normal, a failure effect is executed according to the operation of the first effect button 35.

[0374] In this way, when the above-mentioned sure change confirmation notification effect or success effect (according to the operation of the first effect button 35) is executed during the opening period of the jackpot game (when winning 3R sure change A), a 3-round long opening round game including a long opening round game in which the second big winning opening 28 and the V winning opening 287 are opened for a long time is executed. This 3-round long opening round game is as described above based on Fig. 6(B) and the like. On the other hand, when the above-mentioned failure effect is executed during the opening period of the jackpot game (when winning 3R normal), as described above based on Fig. 6(B), a 1-round round game in which the second big winning opening 28 is opened briefly and two long opening round games in which the first big winning opening 26 is opened for a long time are executed.

[0375] <When a V win is notified> 20 is a screen diagram showing an example of a performance when a V prize is announced during a jackpot game. When the result of the first special symbol determination in a normal game state becomes a "jackpot" and the jackpot symbol X1 (see FIG. 6(B)) showing 3R probability A is stopped and displayed on the first special symbol display 41, three performance symbols showing the repeat number "777", for example, may stop on the display screen 70. In this case, the following performance is performed during a jackpot game related to 3R probability A.

[0376] First, during the opening period of the jackpot game related to 3R probability variable A, a predetermined opening performance is executed (see FIG. 20(A)). Specifically, as exemplified in FIG. 20(A), the characters "RUSH BONUS" informing the player of the type of jackpot this time are displayed in the center area of ​​the display screen 70, and the characters "Right Hit" and a rightward arrow encouraging the player to hit right are displayed in the upper right area of ​​the display screen 70. The characters "RUSH BONUS" definitively inform the player that the game will be controlled in a probability variable game state after the jackpot game ends, and the performance displaying the characters "RUSH BONUS" functions as the above-mentioned probability variable confirmed notification performance.

[0377] Following the opening period of the jackpot game related to the 3R probability change A in which such an opening performance is performed, a predetermined round performance is executed in association with the first round round game, which is a long-open round game in which the second jackpot winning hole 28 and the V winning hole 287 are long-opened (see Fig. 20(B) and (C)). Specifically, as exemplified in Fig. 20(B) and (C), three arrows (with the characters "right hit" written on them) pointing to the V winning hole 287 and large characters "Aim for V" are displayed large on the display screen 70, and a shot promotion performance is executed in which the voice "Aim for V" is output from the speaker 38. In addition, the three performance symbols of "777" that stopped before the start of this jackpot game are displayed small in the upper left area of ​​the display screen 70.

[0378] In this way, in the first round of round play in which the launch promotion effect is performed to encourage the player to launch the game ball aimed at the V winning hole 287, the second large winning hole 28 is opened for a long time, and when 1.5 seconds have passed since the opening of the second large winning hole 28 started, the long opening of the V winning hole 287 starts. Then, this long opening of the V winning hole 287 continues until the tenth game ball enters the second large winning hole 28 or the opening time of the V winning hole 287 reaches 10 seconds. Therefore, as long as the player hits the ball to the right in accordance with the launch promotion effect, it is possible for the player to easily make the game ball enter the V winning hole 287. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the launch promotion effect starts with the start of the first round of round play, but in other embodiments, the launch promotion effect may start from the middle of the opening period or from the start of the opening period.

[0379] Next, when the game ball passes through the V winning hole 287 during the first round of play, a predetermined V winning notification effect is executed to notify the player that the game ball has won a V prize (see FIG. 20(D)). Specifically, for example, a display of an effect showing two characters holding up a star-shaped emblem containing the letter "V" in joy is performed, and a predetermined V winning notification sound is output from the speaker 38.

[0380] In this way, when the V winning notification effect is executed to notify that the game ball has won the V during the first round of round play, a predetermined interval period is entered, and during the following second round of round play (long-open round play of the first big winning port 26), the star-shaped emblem is displayed small in the lower left area of ​​the display screen 70 (see FIG. 20(E)). Although not shown in FIG. 20, the same effect as during the second round of round play is performed during the third round of round play. Then, when the ending period of the big win game following the third round of round play is reached, the words "Enter the Fierce Fighting RUSH!" are displayed large in the central area of ​​the display screen 70, and the sound "Enter the Fierce Fighting RUSH!" is output from the speaker 38 to notify that a performance in a performance mode named "Fierce Fighting RUSH", which definitely notifies that the game is in a "probable game state", will begin.

[0381] [Robot-type gimmick 15 and swinging effects] Next, with reference to FIG. 21, the outline of the robot type gimmick 15 provided in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment and the swinging effect using this robot type gimmick 15 will be described. Here, FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the robot type gimmick 15 and the swinging effect using the robot type gimmick 15. As described above based on FIG. 1, in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, the robot type gimmick 15 is provided in a position on the front frame 31 that is looked down upon by a seated player. This robot type gimmick 15 is provided on the back side of the upper tray 33, so that the player will naturally see the robot type gimmick 15 by looking at the upper tray 33.

[0382] 21, the robot type gimmick 15 is configured to have an upper body 151, a lower body 152, and a connecting portion 153. This robot type gimmick 15 is a movable performance part that imitates an ally character that may appear midway through the above-mentioned SPSP reach (second half battle), and the connecting portion 153 represents the waist area of ​​the ally character, the upper body 151 represents the upper part of the ally character from the waist up, and the lower body 152 represents the lower part of the ally character from the waist down.

[0383] The lower body 152 has both feet (two lower ends) fixed to the front frame 31 (see FIG. 1). In contrast, the upper body 151 and the connecting part 153 are fixed to each other, and the upper body 151 and the connecting part 153 are configured to be able to move integrally on the lower body 152. Although not shown in the figure, the connecting part 153 is provided with a rotation axis whose axial direction is perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 21. Also, although not shown in the figure, the robot type gimmick swing motor 154 (see FIG. 5) that operates the robot type gimmick 15 is provided in the front frame 31 so that its rotation axis is perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 21, like the rotation axis of the connecting part 153, and the rotation axis of the robot type gimmick swing motor 154 is connected to the rotation axis of the robot type gimmick 15 so as to be able to transmit drive power via a drive transmission mechanism not shown. Therefore, by alternately rotating the rotation shaft of the robot-type gimmick swing motor 154 in the forward and reverse directions, it is possible to swing the upper body 151 (and the connecting part 153) counterclockwise and clockwise.

[0384] Fig. 21(A) illustrates the robot gimmick 15 in an initial position. Fig. 21(B) illustrates the robot gimmick 15 in a left inclined position in which the upper body 151 (and the connecting part 153) is inclined to the left by rotating the rotation shaft of the robot gimmick swing motor 154 forward, and Fig. 21(C) illustrates the robot gimmick 15 in a right inclined position in which the upper body 151 (and the connecting part 153) is inclined to the right by rotating the rotation shaft of the robot gimmick swing motor 154 backward.

[0385] The gaming machine 1 of this embodiment is configured to be able to execute various swing effects that swing the robot gimmick 15 between a left tilted attitude and a right tilted attitude (via the initial attitude) by the lamp CPU 121 (see FIG. 5) controlling the rotation of the robot gimmick swing motor 154. These swing effects will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS. 22 to 25.

[0386] [A series of performances including swinging effects] In the following, various swing effects performed during the variable display of the first special symbol in the normal game state will be described with reference to Figures 22 and 23. Here, Figure 22 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the flow of a series of effects in the target pre-variation, and Figure 23 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the flow of a series of effects in the pre-read target variation.

[0387] In addition, the target pre-change illustrated in FIG. 22 is the same as the target pre-change described above based on FIG. 8, and in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, in the target pre-change illustrated in FIG. 8, a series of effects illustrated in FIG. 22 may be performed based on advance judgment information related to the right of the first special symbol judgment corresponding to the pre-reading target change. In addition, the pre-reading target change illustrated in FIG. 23 is the same as the pre-reading target change described above based on FIG. 8, and in the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, in the pre-reading target change illustrated in FIG. 8, a series of effects illustrated in FIG. 23 may be performed based on the judgment result of the first special symbol judgment performed at the start of the pre-reading target change. In the following description, the effects after the SPSP reach in the pre-reading target change (the effects after FIG. 23(J)) are referred to as "following effects", and the effects performed before that are referred to as "advancing effects".

[0388] First, in the same manner as described above based on Fig. 8(A), in a state where the right to judge the first special symbol corresponding to the pre-read target variation is reserved in the normal game state, the display of the first special symbol and the performance symbol as the pre-target variation may be started (see Fig. 22(A)). Here, when a game ball enters the first start hole 21 during the display of the first special symbol variation in the normal game state and the right to judge the first special symbol related to the pre-read target variation is reserved, the main CPU81 executes a pre-judgment process based on the acquired information such as the jackpot random number acquired at the time of winning, and the sub-CPU91 may set to execute a pre-swaying performance in the pre-target variation based on the result of this pre-judgment process (pre-judgment information).

[0389] (Pre-swaying performance) In this way, when the execution of the pre-swaying performance is set, the sub-CPU91 executes a pre-swaying performance that causes the robot gimmick 15 to swing when the first special symbol and the performance symbol are displayed as a pre-target variation (an example of the "first first swinging performance", see FIG. 22(B)). This pre-swaying performance is a performance that causes the robot gimmick 15 to swing at ultra-high speed by alternately switching the forward and reverse rotation of the robot gimmick swing motor 154 at extremely short time intervals (for example, 0.1 second intervals), and the swinging time from the start to the end of the swinging of the robot gimmick 15 in the pre-swaying performance is preset to 1 second (see FIG. 22(B)). As described above, this robot-type gimmick 15 is modeled after an ally character that may appear during the SPSP reach (second half battle), so by executing this type of pre-swinging effect prior to the predicted target change, it is possible to effectively make the player expect that the second half battle will take place during the predicted target change and that an ally character will appear during that second half battle.

[0390] Such a pre-swaying effect is performed when the result of the first special pattern determination performed at the start of the target pre-variation is "miss" and a first special pattern variation pattern in which a no-reach effect is performed is selected. Therefore, in the target pre-variation, three performance patterns indicating a scatter pattern are pseudo-stopped on the display screen 70, and as a miss pattern is stopped and displayed as the first special pattern, a no-reach miss notification effect is performed in which the three performance patterns indicating the scatter patterns are actually stopped (see Figure 22(C)).

[0391] Although not shown in Fig. 22, the pre-swaying effect is executed by utilizing a target pre-swaying effect in which the first special symbol has a relatively short time to change (for example, a target pre-swaying effect with a change time of 5 seconds). Therefore, the pre-swaying effect is not executed during the execution of the first effect button operation prompting effect that prompts the player to operate the first effect button 35, during the execution of the operation corresponding effect in response to the operation of the first effect button 35 for this first effect button operation prompting effect, during the execution of the second effect button operation prompting effect that prompts the player to operate the second effect button 36, and during the execution of the operation corresponding effect in response to the operation of the second effect button 36 for this second effect button operation prompting effect.

[0392] Up to this point, with reference to FIG. 22, an example has been described in which a pre-swaying effect (see FIG. 22(B)) is executed in the pre-target variation, but a no-reach miss notification effect (see FIG. 22(C)) may be executed without executing a pre-swaying effect. Note that the pre-swaying effect has the following characteristics. That is, when the pre-determination result related to the right of the first special pattern determination corresponding to the pre-read target variation indicates a "jackpot," the pre-swaying effect is more likely to be executed than when it indicates a "miss." In addition, there is also a characteristic that the longer the variation time of the first special pattern specified based on the pre-determination result (pre-determination information) related to the right of the first special pattern determination corresponding to the pre-read target variation, the more likely the pre-swaying effect is executed.

[0393] In addition, since the pre-swaying effect is an effect that does not use the display screen 70, it is possible to combine it with other pre-reading effects, and in the pre-target fluctuation, a pre-swaying effect (see Figure 22(B)) may be performed before a weak chance eye effect (see Figure 9(C)) and a first performance pattern attention effect (see Figure 9(D)) may be performed, or a pre-swaying effect (see Figure 22(B)) may be performed before a strong chance eye effect (see Figure 9(E)) and a second performance pattern attention effect (see Figure 9(F)) may be performed, and it can be said that the likelihood of a jackpot is higher when these pre-reading effects are performed in combination than when they are performed alone.

[0394] Next, a series of effects performed during the variable display of the first special symbol and the performance symbol related to the pre-reading target variation will be described with reference to Fig. 23. Note that, here, a series of effects including various swing effects using the robot type gimmick 15 will be described with an example in which the effects proceed in the order of pre-reach performance (see Fig. 8(J)), reach establishment performance (see Fig. 8(K)), normal reach (see Fig. 8(L)), SP reach (see Fig. 8(O)), and SPSP reach (see Fig. 8(P)) during the variable display of the first special symbol and the performance symbol related to the pre-reading target variation.

[0395] In the normal game state, when a predetermined fixed time has elapsed since a losing symbol is displayed as the first special symbol with the end of the target pre-change immediately before the pre-reading target change, the main CPU81 executes a first special symbol determination corresponding to the pre-reading target change, and based on a change start command from the main control board 80 including the result of the first special symbol determination, the sub-CPU91 sets the presentation pattern of various presentations performed during the display of the first special symbol (and) presentation pattern related to the pre-reading target change. In this way, at the start of the pre-reading target change, the main CPU81 executes the first special symbol determination, and when the sub-CPU91 sets the presentation pattern of various presentations performed in the pre-reading target change, the presentation may be performed in the following flow as illustrated in FIG. 23.

[0396] (Non-operable shaking effect when fluctuation starts) That is, when the first special pattern determination corresponding to the pre-read target change is executed, the display of the first special pattern (and performance pattern) related to the pre-read target change starts (see FIG. 23(A)). In this way, when the display of the first special pattern (and performance pattern) related to the pre-read target change starts, a non-operation-responsive rocking effect at the start of change (one example of the "second first rocking effect", see FIG. 23(B)) may be performed. This non-operation-responsive rocking effect at the start of change is a rocking effect that rocks the robot-type gimmick 15 regardless of the operation of the first performance button 35 (or the second performance button 36) by the player at almost the same time as the display of the first special pattern (and performance pattern) starts, or immediately thereafter. In addition, the non-operation-compatible rocking effect at the start of fluctuation is an effect in which the robot-type gimmick 15 is rocked at high speed by alternately switching between forward and reverse rotation of the robot-type gimmick rocking motor 154 at short time intervals (for example, 0.2 second intervals), and the rocking time from when the robot-type gimmick 15 starts to when it ends in the non-operation-compatible rocking effect at the start of fluctuation is preset to 2 seconds (see Figure 23 (B)).

[0397] This non-operation-responsive swing effect at the start of fluctuation (see Figure 23 (B)) is an effect that takes place before the reach-established effect in Figure 23 (F), and therefore can be said to be one of the pre-reach effects described above based on Figure 8 (J) etc.

[0398] It should be noted that this operation-incompatible rocking effect at the start of the change (see Figure 23 (B)) is not necessarily executed when the first special pattern (and performance pattern) related to the predicted change starts to change; there are cases where the operation-incompatible rocking effect at the start of the change is executed and cases where the operation-incompatible rocking effect at the start of the change is not executed.

[0399] Next, after the fluctuation start operation non-responsive rocking performance (see FIG. 23(B)) is performed, or when a predetermined time has passed since the start of the pre-read target fluctuation without the fluctuation start operation non-responsive rocking performance being performed, a first performance button operation promotion performance may be performed to prompt the player to operate the first performance button 35 (see FIG. 23(C)). This first performance button operation promotion performance is performed in the same manner as the first performance button operation promotion performance described above based on, for example, FIG. 11(F), so a detailed description will be omitted here.

[0400] (Dialogue preview) Here, if the player operates the first effect button 35 during the valid period related to the first effect button operation prompt effect in Fig. 23(C), or if the valid period ends without the player operating the first effect button 35, a line preview is performed as an operation-responsive effect (one example of the "first operation-responsive effect": see Fig. 23(D)). The line preview here is as described above based on Fig. 10(F), and is configured as an effect in which an effect image showing a predetermined character uttering a line is displayed in the central area of ​​the display screen 70, and sound with the same content as the line is output from the speaker 38.

[0401] (Pre-reach operation-compatible shaking effect) In the gaming machine 1 of this embodiment, a pre-reach operation-responsive rocking effect (one example of the "second first rocking effect", see FIG. 23(E)) may be performed in conjunction with the above-mentioned line notice (see FIG. 23(D)). This pre-reach operation-responsive rocking effect is common to the line notice in that it is an operation-responsive effect executed in response to the operation of the first effect button 35 for the first effect button operation prompt effect of FIG. 23(C). In addition, the pre-reach operation-responsive rocking effect is an effect in which the robot-type gimmick 15 is rocked at a medium speed by alternately switching the forward and reverse rotations of the robot-type gimmick rocking motor 154 at medium time intervals (for example, 0.5 second intervals), and the rocking time from the start to the end of the rocking of the robot-type gimmick 15 in the pre-reach operation-responsive rocking effect is preset to 3.5 seconds (see FIG. 23(E)).

[0402] This pre-reach operation-responsive rocking effect (see Figure 23(E)), like the operation-inresponsive rocking effect at the start of fluctuation (see Figure 23(B)) and the dialogue preview (see Figure 23(D)), is an effect that takes place before the reach establishment effect in Figure 23(F), and so can be said to be one of the pre-reach effects mentioned above based on Figure 8(J) etc.

[0403] ...

Claims

[Claim 1] A determination means for determining whether or not a special game advantageous to a player is to be executed; a special symbol display control means for causing the special symbol display means to variably display the special symbols and then to stop displaying the special symbols indicating the result of the determination; a special game execution means for executing the special game when a special symbol indicating that the determination means has determined that the special game is to be executed is stopped and displayed on the special symbol display means; A performance control means for controlling the performance, The performance control means includes: A performance pattern is displayed in a variable manner in accordance with the variable display of the special pattern, and a performance pattern showing the result of the judgment is displayed in a stopped state in accordance with the stop display of the special pattern, Prior to the winning notification effect that notifies the player that the special game will be executed, an expectation effect that makes the player expect that the winning notification effect will be executed can be executed, and then an attention effect that draws the player's attention to an effect pattern that suggests that the special game will be executed can be executed. After starting the expected performance, there is a first time when the performance pattern is displayed in a first display mode, and a second time when the performance pattern is displayed in a second display mode different from the first display mode, The gaming machine is characterized in that the attention performance is more likely to be executed in the second state than in the first state.

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