Gaming Machines

Abstract

To provide a game machine capable of suggesting a degree of expectation toward winning of a jackpot in a pattern variation during execution by a display mode of a variation icon and capable of restraining decline in the willingness of playing a game.SOLUTION: Performance control means disables display of a variation icon concerned when completing a pattern variation. A display mode of a variation icon includes a first display mode, and a second display mode having a higher degree of expectation toward winning of privilege than the first display mode, execution timing of icon completion control includes first timing, and second timing before the first timing, and icon completion control is executed at the second timing at a higher ratio when a display mode immediately before execution of icon completion control of a variation icon corresponding to a pattern variation where the privilege is not won, becomes the second display mode than when a display mode immediately before execution of icon completion control of a variation icon corresponding to the pattern variation becomes the first display mode.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 18

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine. [Background technology]

[0002] Some gaming machines, such as pachinko machines, are configured to be able to display a change icon corresponding to the ongoing pattern change, and the display mode of the change icon indicates the probability of winning a jackpot in the ongoing pattern change. For example, see Patent Document 1. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-171779 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In such gaming machines, even if the icon with a high expectation is displayed, the symbol does not necessarily lead to a big win, and may result in a miss. Therefore, if this phenomenon continues to occur, it may significantly reduce the player's desire to play.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and provides a gaming machine that can suggest the expected probability of winning a jackpot in the ongoing pattern change based on the display mode of the change icon, while suppressing a decline in the desire to play. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the present invention, a gaming machine capable of executing a win / loss judgment for judging whether or not a special offer will be won when a pattern change starts, suspending the start of the pattern change until a change start condition is satisfied, and displaying a change icon that corresponds to the pattern change being executed and indicates the expected probability of winning the special offer in the corresponding pattern change by a display mode, the gaming machine is provided with a performance means and a performance control means for controlling the performance means, the performance control means being capable of executing an icon change performance that can change the change icon to a display mode that indicates a high expected probability of winning the special offer when the pattern change ends, and making the change icon non-displayable or changing the display mode of the change icon to a display mode that indicates a low expected probability of winning the special offer when the pattern change ends. At the end of the pattern change An icon termination control can be executed to hide the variable icon, and the display mode of the variable icon includes a first display mode and a second display mode in which the probability of winning the special offer is higher than that of the first display mode, and the timing of executing the icon termination control includes a first timing and a second timing that is earlier than the first timing, and in a pattern variation in which the special offer is not won, the icon termination control is executed for the variable icon corresponding to the pattern variation. When the timing is the second timing, the proportion of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the second display mode is higher than the proportion of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the first display mode, and Hold icon corresponding to the pattern change during the reservation The icon change effect can be executed on the target, When the icon change performance is executed on the reserved icon, the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon is more likely to be the second display mode than when the icon change performance is not executed on the reserved icon. the display mode of the variable icon that changes by the execution of the icon change performance further includes a third display mode having a higher expectation of winning the special offer than the first display mode and a lower expectation of winning the special offer than the second display mode, and in a pattern change that does not win the special offer, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second timing, the percentage at which the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing is the third display mode is higher than the percentage at which the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing is the first display mode, and in a pattern change that does not win the special offer, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second timing, the percentage at which the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing is the third display mode is lower than the percentage at which the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing is the second display mode; A gaming machine is provided that has the following features. Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine capable of executing a win / loss judgment for judging whether or not a bonus will be won when a pattern change starts, suspending the start of the pattern change until a change start condition is satisfied, and displaying a change icon corresponding to the pattern change being executed and indicating the expected probability of winning the bonus in the corresponding pattern change by a display mode, the gaming machine comprising: a presentation means; and a presentation control means for controlling the presentation means, the presentation control means being capable of executing an icon change presentation that can change the change icon to a display mode in which the expected probability of winning the bonus is high, and being capable of executing an icon end control that makes the change icon invisible when the pattern change ends, or makes the change icon invisible when the pattern change ends by changing the display mode of the change icon to a display mode in which the expected probability of winning the bonus is low, the display mode of the change icon being a first display mode and a second display mode in which the expected probability of winning the bonus is higher than the first display mode, and the timing of executing the icon end control being a first timing and a second timing earlier than the first timing. and when, in a pattern change that does not win the bonus, the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the changing icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second display mode, the icon end control is executed at the second timing at a higher rate than when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the changing icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the first display mode, and the icon change performance can be executed for the reserved icon corresponding to the reserved pattern change on hold, and when the icon change performance is executed for the reserved icon, the display mode of the changing icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon is more likely to become the second display mode than when the icon change performance is not executed for the reserved icon, and a game is stopped based on the satisfaction of a predetermined condition, and when the predetermined condition is satisfied during the execution of the pattern change, the changing icon corresponding to the pattern change is hidden regardless of the display mode of the changing icon. Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine capable of executing a win / loss judgment for judging whether or not a bonus will be won when a pattern change starts, suspending the start of the pattern change until a change start condition is satisfied, and displaying a changing icon which corresponds to the pattern change being executed and indicates the expected probability of winning the bonus in the corresponding pattern change by a display mode, the gaming machine comprising: a presentation means; and a presentation control means for controlling the presentation means, the presentation control means being capable of executing an icon change presentation which can change the changing icon to a display mode which indicates a high expected probability of winning the bonus, and being capable of executing an icon end control which makes the changing icon invisible when the pattern change ends, or makes the changing icon invisible when the pattern change ends by changing the display mode of the changing icon to a display mode which indicates a low expected probability of winning the bonus, the display mode of the changing icon being a display mode which indicates a high expected probability of winning the bonus than the first display mode, the display mode of the changing icon being a first display mode and a second display mode which indicates a high expected probability of winning the bonus than the first display mode, and the timing of executing the icon end control being a first timing and a second timing which is earlier than the first timing, In the pattern change that has been won, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second timing, the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the second display mode is higher than the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the first display mode, and the icon change performance can be executed for the reserved icon corresponding to the pending pattern change, and when the icon change performance is executed for the reserved icon, the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon being the second display mode is higher than when the icon change performance is not executed for the reserved icon, and the benefits include a first benefit and a second benefit that is more advantageous than the first benefit, and in the pattern change that has been won, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the first timing, the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the first timing is the second display mode,A gaming machine is provided in which the percentage of the benefit being the second benefit when the timing at which the icon end control is executed for the variable icon corresponding to the symbol change winning the benefit is the first timing and the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the first timing is the second display mode is different from the percentage of the benefit being the second benefit when the timing at which the icon end control is executed for the variable icon corresponding to the symbol change winning the benefit is the second timing and the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing is the second display mode. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, a gaming machine is provided that can suggest the expected probability of winning a jackpot in the ongoing pattern change based on the display mode of the change icon, while preventing a decline in motivation to play. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a front view of the gaming machine. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a pattern display device disposed in the area II shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a bird's-eye view showing the operation buttons and their surroundings arranged in the area III shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a game board installed in the gaming machine. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a rear view of the gaming machine. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the gaming machine. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the gaming machine. [Figure 8] Figure 8(a) is a schematic diagram showing a lottery table for determining whether a special pattern is selected, Figure 8(b) is a schematic diagram showing a lottery table for selecting a special pattern for stopping on special pattern 1, and Figure 8(c) is a schematic diagram showing a lottery table for selecting a special pattern for stopping on special pattern 2. [Figure 9] Figure 9(a) is a schematic diagram showing a lottery table for deriving a special chart variation pattern in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, and Figure 9(b) is a schematic diagram showing a lottery table for deriving a special chart variation pattern used when a special chart variation pattern HNP is determined. [Figure 10] FIG. 10(a) is a state transition diagram showing the transition of the special chart variation pattern derivation state, and FIG. 10(b) is a diagram showing the relationship of the average variation time for each special chart variation pattern derivation state. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow from when a variable icon is consumed to when a new variable icon is supplied. [Figure 12] 12(a) to 12(f) are diagrams showing types of display modes of variable icons. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a flow chart of the icon change control process. [Figure 14] FIG. 14(a) is a schematic diagram showing a selection table for selecting an icon color, and FIG. 14(b) is a schematic diagram showing a selection table for selecting a color change timing. [Figure 15]FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the icon end control management process. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a schematic drawing of a selection table TaA used in the selection of the execution timing of the icon end control. [Figure 17] FIG. 17(a) is a diagram that typically illustrates a selection table TaB1 used in the selection of the execution timing of the icon end control, and FIG. 17(b) is a diagram that typically illustrates a selection table TaB2 used in the selection of the execution timing of the icon end control. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a timing chart showing the flow of display related to the variable icon when the icon ending control is executed at timing T1. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a timing chart showing the flow of display related to the variable icon when the icon ending control is executed at timing T2. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a timing chart showing the flow of display related to the variable icon when the icon ending control is executed at timing T3. [Figure 21] Fig. 21(a) is a diagram showing a specific example of display control of a variable icon when a game stop state is set. Fig. 21(b) is a diagram showing a specific example of display control of a variable icon when an icon end control is executed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all drawings, the same components are given the same reference numerals, and the description will be omitted as appropriate. In the following description, "front", "rear", "left", "right", "upper", and "lower" refer to the gaming machine 10 as viewed from the front side (player side) as shown in FIG. 1, unless otherwise specified. In the following explanation, "advantageous (degree of advantage)" refers to an advantage for the player, and further, unless otherwise specified, refers to an advantage in terms of the amount of prize balls (gaming media) obtained (including not only the payout of gaming balls but also the payout of medals), excluding aspects of presentation such as so-called premium images.

[0010] <Features of the present invention> Before describing the details of the gaming machine 10 in this embodiment, the features of the invention (the present invention) described in this embodiment will be described. In addition, when explaining the features, the configuration in parentheses is an example of the configuration of this embodiment corresponding to the immediately preceding configuration, and the configuration may be described in parentheses for the same purpose in the explanations of the gaming machine 10 that follow.

[0011] The present invention relates to A gaming machine capable of executing a win / loss judgment for judging whether or not a special prize (jackpot) will be won in association with the start of a pattern change, suspending the start of the pattern change until a change start condition is satisfied, and displaying a change icon which corresponds to the pattern change being executed and indicates the probability of winning the special prize in the corresponding pattern change by a display mode, A presentation means (main display unit 81); A performance control means (first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300) for controlling the performance means; Equipped with The performance control means includes: It is possible to execute an icon change effect that can change the variable icon to a display mode (color) that has a high expectation of winning the benefit, When the pattern variation ends, the variable icon is hidden, or the display mode of the variable icon is changed to a display mode (default color) with a low expectation of winning the above-mentioned benefit, and then the variable icon is hidden. Icon end control can be executed. The display mode of the variable icon includes a first display mode (blue) and a second display mode (red) in which the winning expectation of the bonus is higher than that of the first display mode. The execution timing of the icon end control includes a first timing (timing T1) and a second timing (timing T3) that is earlier than the first timing, In the case of a pattern change that does not win the bonus, when the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change immediately before the icon end control is executed is the second display mode, the icon end control is executed at the second timing at a higher rate than when the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change immediately before the icon end control is executed is the first display mode, The icon change effect is an effect that can change the pending icon corresponding to the pending pattern change in addition to the variable icon to a display mode with a high winning expectation of the benefit, When the icon change performance is executed on the reserved icon, the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon is more likely to be the second display mode than when the icon change performance is not executed on the reserved icon. This is a gaming machine characterized by the above.

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to increase the expectation of winning a special bonus by varying the display mode of the variable icon, while reducing the disappointment felt when a variable icon of a color that indicates a high expectation of winning a special bonus is used and the bonus is not won. Furthermore, according to the present invention, when a player does not win a bonus using a variable icon of a color that indicates a high probability of winning a bonus, the player's excitement can be calmed down before the pattern change corresponding to the variable icon ends, thereby reducing the disappointment caused by the occurrence of the event.

[0013] The above-mentioned special offer is not limited to a big win, but may be a small win that starts a small win game that allows a game ball to enter a big winning hole that has a specific area inside (a hole that generates a big win game when passed through), or a combination of these. However, a small win game that does not generate a big win game may be excluded from the special offer. Furthermore, the degree of advantage of the bonus described below is not limited to the degree of advantage of the jackpot game itself that occurs based on winning the bonus (e.g., the number of rounds), but may be defined by the degree of advantage of the game state after the jackpot game ends (e.g., whether or not there is a special mode, whether or not there is a time-saving mode, the number of times the time-saving mode is activated, etc.), or may be defined by a combination of these.

[0014] Furthermore, the above-mentioned "display mode of the variable icon" may be defined by the shape of the variable icon, or a combination thereof, other than the color of the variable icon adopted in this embodiment described below.

[0015] Furthermore, the "or" in the above-mentioned "(the presentation control means) is capable of executing icon end control such that, when the pattern change ends, the changing icon is hidden, or the display mode of the changing icon is changed to a display mode (default color) having a low expected probability of winning the bonus, and then the changing icon is hidden" may have only one of the configurations before or after it, or it may have both of these configurations. Furthermore, the above-mentioned "hiding the variable icon" does not necessarily mean erasing the display data of the variable icon from any layer, but also includes maintaining the state in which the display data of the variable icon is drawn in one layer, while preventing an image related to the variable icon from being displayed in an image drawn in a layer that has a higher priority (closer) than the one layer.

[0016] In addition, as described below, the first timing is allowed to coincide with the timing at which the pattern change at which the icon end control is executed ends, as long as the context with the second timing is maintained.

[0017] The gaming machine 10 having the above-mentioned features will be specifically described based on the following embodiment.

[0018] <Structure of the gaming machine 10> First, the structure of the gaming machine 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 1 is a front view of the gaming machine 10, Figure 2 is a diagram showing a pattern display device 90 arranged in area II shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a bird's-eye view showing a group of operation buttons arranged in area III shown in Figure 1 and their surroundings, Figure 4 is a diagram showing a game board 50 installed in the gaming machine 10, and Figure 5 is a rear view of the gaming machine 10. 1 to 5 are merely components necessary for explaining the gaming machine 10 of this embodiment, and components and functions not shown here may be added to the gaming machine 10. Also, the gaming machine 10 does not necessarily have to include all of the components shown here, and some components or functions may be omitted as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired.

[0019] The gaming machine 10 of this embodiment is a so-called pachinko machine, in which gaming balls are shot into a front area (hereinafter referred to as "game area 50a") of a gaming board 50 on which a large number of gaming nails (not shown) are erected, and a prize ball is obtained when the gaming ball enters a winning hole (for example, a big winning hole 55, etc.). In the following description, the entry of a gaming ball into a winning hole may be simply expressed as "entering (a winning hole)."

[0020] The gaming machine 10 comprises a rectangular outer frame 15 that opens at the front and rear, a middle frame 17 that detachably holds a gaming board 50 on the front side of the opening of the outer frame 15, and a front frame 20 configured to cover the front side of the gaming board 50.

[0021] The middle frame 17 is supported so as to be rotatable about the left end side by a hinge mechanism (not shown) on the same side as the hinge mechanism 21, and can be opened and closed to the front side of the outer frame 15. The middle frame 17 can be locked and unlocked by a cylinder lock 23 (inserting a door key into the cylinder lock 23 and turning the door key in the opposite direction to the unlocking direction of the front frame 20 (right in this embodiment)).

[0022] The front frame 20 is supported by a hinge mechanism 21 so as to be rotatable about the left end side, and can be opened and closed relative to the middle frame 17. The front frame 20 can be locked and unlocked by a cylinder lock 23 (by inserting a door key into the cylinder lock 23 and turning the door key in the opposite direction to the unlocking direction of the middle frame 17 (left in this embodiment)). In addition, the front frame 20 is provided with a transparent member 25 arranged to cover the playing area 50a, and the transparent member 25 protects the playing area 50a and the playing board 50 from view. The front frame 20 also has an upper ball tray 27 and a lower ball tray 29 for storing game balls, and the upper ball tray 27 and the lower ball tray 29 are spaced apart from each other vertically and are formed integrally with the front frame 20. In addition, the front frame 20 is provided with an operating handle 31 on the right side of the lower ball tray 29, and by rotating the operating handle 31, the game balls stored in the upper ball tray 27 are launched toward the game area 50a.

[0023] 1 to 5, the middle frame 17 has a middle frame open door sensor 76 that detects whether the middle frame 17 is in an open state or a closed state relative to the outer frame 15, and a front frame open door sensor 77 that detects whether the front frame 20 is in an open state or a closed state relative to the middle frame 17. In this embodiment, both of these door open sensors are ON in the open state and OFF in the closed state. However, these door open sensors may be configured to be OFF in the open state and ON in the closed state. This allows the gaming machine 10 to detect both the open / closed state of the middle frame 17 relative to the outer frame 15 and the open / closed state of the front frame 20 relative to the middle frame 17.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 3, a group of operation buttons operated by the player is arranged on the upper surface of the upper ball tray 27. The group of operation buttons includes a ball loan button 39a and a return button 39b for accepting a return operation of a prepaid card as a main operation unit 39 electrically connected to a main control board 100 described later, and includes a performance button 37 for switching the performance generated during a game or accepting a player's operation to obtain various information related to the gaming machine 10 as an operation unit electrically connected to a first sub-control board 200 described later, and cursor buttons 38 (upper cursor button 38a, lower cursor button 38b, left cursor button 38c, right cursor button 38d, middle cursor button 38e) for instructing operations to the up, down, left, and right directions, respectively. Each operation unit is provided with a sensor for detecting the operation, and the control board to be connected detects the operation of each operation unit by a change in the detection state of the sensor.

[0025] In addition, a movable decorative body 22 that operates (vibrates) due to an actuator such as a motor (not shown) is provided on the side of the upper ball tray 27. Furthermore, a lamp made of a full-color LED is provided inside the movable decorative body 22, and the lamp lights up in accordance with the operation of the actuator, lighting up the movable decorative body 22 and making it easy to recognize that the movable decorative body 22 is in operation.

[0026] A ball ejection mechanism 36 is provided below the lower ball tray 29 to eject the game balls stored in the lower ball tray 29 downward. By operating this ball ejection mechanism 36, a bottom opening (not shown) formed on the bottom surface of the lower ball tray 29 opens, and the game balls fall naturally from the bottom opening and are ejected. Although not shown in the figure, the upper ball tray 27 is provided with a mechanism which, similar to the ball removal mechanism 36, can be operated to move the stored balls to the lower ball tray 29, and by operating both this mechanism and the ball removal mechanism 36, it is possible to remove the stored balls.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of speakers 33 (33a, 33b) are disposed on the left and right sides of the upper frame portion 32 of the front frame 20. The upper frame portion 32 and the left and right side frame portions 34a, 34b of the front frame 20 are formed of a light-transmitting cover, and frame lamps 35 (35a, 35b, 35c) are disposed inside the cover, each of which is composed of a full-color LED. The speaker 33 and the frame lamp 35 can emit sound or turn on or off in conjunction with multiple types of effects and error effects that occur during play. In the following description, the frame lamp 35a will be referred to as the "upper lamp."

[0028] The performance display device 80 is composed of a main display unit 81 disposed approximately in the center of the game board 50, and a sub-display unit 82 disposed around the main display unit 81. The sub-display unit 82 further includes an upper sub-display unit 82a disposed above the main display unit 81, a left sub-display unit 82b disposed on the left side of the main display unit 81, and a right sub-display unit 82c disposed on the right side of the main display unit 81. Here, the main display unit 81 is a fixed liquid crystal display device, and the upper sub-display unit 82a, the left sub-display unit 82b, and the right sub-display unit 82c are movable liquid crystal display devices operated by actuators such as motors (not shown).

[0029] The main display unit 81 can display the changing display of a pattern row that is performed in conjunction with the changing display in the first special pattern display device 91 or the second special pattern display device 92 described below, and can also display various other effects. In the variable display of the pattern rows (decorative patterns) displayed on the main display unit 81, the displayed decorative patterns form three pattern rows. The direction of the variable display of each pattern row is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, the up-down direction, the left-right direction, the depth direction, or a combination of these (diagonal direction). Here, the depth direction refers to a virtual direction recognized by the player in a display mode that uses a method (e.g., perspective) that makes the player perceive the pattern row as if it is changing from the back of the main display unit 81 to the front or vice versa, even though in reality it is a planar changing display on the display screen of the main display unit 81. In addition, the decorative symbols in this embodiment include a "1 symbol" that imitates the number "1", a "2 symbol" that imitates the number "2", a "3 symbol" that imitates the number "3", a "4 symbol" that imitates the number "4", a "5 symbol" that imitates the number "5", a "6 symbol" that imitates the number "6", a "7 symbol" that imitates the number "7", an "8 symbol" that imitates the number "8", and a "9 symbol" that imitates the number "9", and these symbols are provided in each symbol row. In the following description, the "1 symbol", "3 symbol", "5 symbol", "7 symbol", and "9 symbol" may be collectively referred to as "odd number symbols", and the "2 symbol", "4 symbol", "6 symbol", and "8 symbol" may be collectively referred to as "even number symbols".

[0030] Each of the sub-display units 82 is not only provided mainly for displaying a performance image related to a performance, but is also configured to be movable. The initial positions of the upper sub-display unit 82a are on the upper side relative to the main display unit 81, the left sub-display unit 82b are on the left side relative to the main display unit 81, and the right sub-display unit 82c are on the right side relative to the main display unit 81, and each of the sub-display units 82 is configured to be movable from these initial positions to a position where it overlaps with the display area of ​​the decorative pattern in the main display unit 81.

[0031] In this embodiment, the performance display device 80 (main display unit 81, upper sub-display unit 82a, left sub-display unit 82b, right sub-display unit 82c) all use liquid crystal display devices, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, various types of display devices such as drum type and dot matrix type can be used as the performance display device 80.

[0032] A number of light emitting diodes (hereinafter abbreviated as "LEDs") are arranged on the lower right side of the main display unit 81, and these LEDs form the display area of ​​the pattern display device 90, which displays special patterns and normal patterns. In addition, the symbol display device 90 is disposed in a position that is more difficult for the player to see than the main display unit 81, and the display area of ​​the symbol display device 90 is smaller than the display area of ​​the main display unit 81. In addition, the arrangement and number of LEDs in the pattern display device 90 in this embodiment are as shown in Figure 2, but this is just one example, and the arrangement and number of LEDs in the pattern display device 90 are not limited to this example.

[0033] The special symbols are symbols that are stopped and displayed as a result of a symbol change that determines whether or not to activate a special electric role (for example, the special electric role 65). The special symbols in this embodiment include a first special symbol displayed on the first special symbol display device 91 and a second special symbol displayed on the second special symbol display device 92. In addition, the special pattern may be abbreviated as "Special pattern", the first special pattern as "Special pattern 1", and the second special pattern as "Special pattern 2".

[0034] The normal symbol is a symbol that is stopped and displayed as a result of a symbol variation that determines whether or not to operate a normal electric role (for example, the normal electric role 61). The normal symbol in this embodiment is displayed on the normal symbol display device 93. In addition, normal patterns are sometimes abbreviated as "Fuzu", and normal electric devices are sometimes called "denchu".

[0035] In addition to the above-mentioned display devices, the symbol display device 90 is provided with a first special symbol reservation lamp 94, a second special symbol reservation lamp 95, and a normal symbol reservation lamp 96. The first special pattern reserve lamp 94 makes it possible to identify the number of pattern variations of reserved special pattern 1, the second special pattern reserve lamp 95 makes it possible to identify the number of pattern variations of reserved special pattern 2, and the normal pattern reserve lamp 96 makes it possible to identify the number of pattern variations of reserved normal patterns, and all of them make it possible to identify the corresponding number of pattern variations by the lighting state of the two LEDs (in this embodiment, right side only constantly lit = 1, left and right sides constantly lit = 2, right side flashing + left side constantly lit = 3, left and right flashing = 4).

[0036] In the following explanation, the pattern change in which the first special pattern display device 91 or the second special pattern display device 92 displays a special pattern in a variable manner and then stops displaying the special pattern will be referred to as the ``pattern change of the special pattern,'' and in the following explanation, the pattern change in which the normal pattern display device 93 displays a normal pattern in a variable manner and then stops displaying the normal pattern will be referred to as the ``pattern change of the normal pattern.'' In addition, in the following description, the change display of the pattern row (decorative pattern) displayed on the above-mentioned main display unit 81 may be referred to as "pattern change of decorative pattern" to distinguish it from "pattern change of special pattern" and "pattern change of normal pattern". In the following explanation, when the term "pattern change" is used, it means a pattern change of a special design unless otherwise specified.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 4, a number of obstacles such as game pegs (not shown), windmills 52, and decorative parts are arranged on the front of the game board 50, thereby defining a game area 50a in which the shot game ball can roll. Additionally, on the left and upper sides of the play area 50a, there are arranged a curved outer rail 51 and an inner rail 53 for guiding the game balls launched by rotating the operating handle 31 to the upper part of the play area 50a. The outer rail 51 is located outside the inner rail 53 with the center of the play area 50a as the reference point. Here, the windmill 52 is a nail-shaped mechanism for changing the direction in which the game balls fall.

[0038] The gaming machine 10 is capable of varying the strength of the game ball's launch depending on the amount of rotation (e.g., the angle of rotation) of the operating handle 31, and various obstacles are arranged in the gaming area 50a to make the game ball roll along either the first flow path X (so-called left hit), in which a game ball that is launched more weakly, or the second flow path Y (so-called right hit), in which a game ball that is launched more strongly, rolls.

[0039] In Figure 4, the main prize openings are shown as large prize opening 55, first start opening 57, second start opening 59, gate 63, and general prize opening 67, but the prize openings shown are only examples, and the number and arrangement of the openings may be changed as appropriate.

[0040] The large prize opening 55 is located in the lower right of the game area 50a. The large prize opening 55 is provided with a large prize opening sensor 72, and the result of detection by the large prize opening sensor 72 determines whether a prize has been won in the large prize opening 55, and the number of prize balls (15 in this embodiment) associated with the large prize opening 55 is awarded. In this embodiment, the obstacles are arranged so that more game balls roll toward the big prize opening 55 when rolling from the second flow path Y compared to when rolling from the first flow path X.

[0041] A special electric device 65 is disposed above the large prize opening 55. The special electric device 65 is a member that can be switched between an open state, in which it is easy to win a prize in the large prize opening 55, and a closed state, in which it is difficult to win a prize, and is switched to either the open state or the closed state by a special electric device solenoid 66. More specifically, the special electric device 65 is in an open state in at least a part of the jackpot game that is set due to the jackpot being derived by the special chart hit / miss judgment described later, and thus entry into the jackpot opening 55 is permitted. In this way, when the special electric device 65 is in an open state, it becomes easier to win the jackpot opening 55, so the jackpot game in which the chances of winning prize balls are greatly increased can be said to be an advantageous game state. In a jackpot game, the special electric device 65 is alternately set to an open state and a closed state, and one open state (sometimes referred to as a "round", and the total number of rounds that occur in one jackpot may be referred to as the "number of rounds") ends when a predetermined number (10 in this embodiment) of game balls have entered the jackpot opening 55, and the special electric device 65 enters a closed state. Note that one open state also ends when a sufficient time (30 s (seconds) in this embodiment) for a predetermined number of game balls to enter the big winning hole 55 has elapsed. Here, when the special electric device 65 is set from the open state to the closed state based on the winning of 10 game balls in one round, it cannot immediately return to the closed state. Therefore, there may be cases where more than 10 game balls win the big winning hole 55 in one round, and such a win may be called an over win.

[0042] The first starting hole 57 is located at the center lower part of the game area 50a. The first starting hole 57 is provided with a first starting hole sensor 70, and the winning of the first starting hole 57 is determined based on the detection result of the first starting hole sensor 70, and the number of prize balls (4 in this embodiment) associated with the first starting hole 57 is awarded. In at least some of the cases where the winning of the first starting hole 57 is determined, the pattern of the special chart 1 is changed. In addition, in the game area 50a of this embodiment, obstacles such as game nails are arranged so that more game balls roll toward the first starting hole 57 when they roll from the first flow path X compared to when they roll from the second flow path Y.

[0043] The second starting hole 59 is located in the lower right of the play area 50a. A second starting hole sensor 71 is attached to the second starting hole 59, and the winning of the second starting hole 59 is determined based on the detection result of the second starting hole sensor 71, and the number of winning balls associated with the second starting hole 59 (1 in this embodiment) is awarded. In at least some cases where a winning combination is determined to have been made at the second starting port 59, the pattern on the special chart 2 will change. In addition, in the game area 50a of this embodiment, obstacles such as game nails are arranged so that more game balls roll toward the second starting hole 59 when they roll from the second flow path Y compared to when they roll from the first flow path X.

[0044] A normal electric device 61 is disposed in the flow path connected to the second starting port 59. The normal electric device 61 is a member that can be switched between an open state in which it is easy to insert a game ball into the second starting port 59 and a closed state in which it is difficult to insert the ball, and is switched to either the open state or the closed state by a normal electric device solenoid 62. More specifically, the normal electric device 61 is in an open state at least in part of the normal winning game that is played by winning the pattern variation of the normal picture, and thus entry into the second starting hole 59 is permitted. In this way, when the normal electric device 61 is in an open state, entry into the second starting hole 59 is easy, so that the opportunity for the pattern variation of the special picture 2 to be executed can be greatly increased while suppressing the decrease in game balls due to the prize balls.

[0045] The gate 63 is located in the right center of the game area 50a. A gate sensor 74 is attached to the gate 63, and the winning of the gate 63 is determined based on the detection result of the gate sensor 74. In at least some cases where the winning of the gate 63 is determined, the pattern of the normal figure is changed. In this embodiment, the obstacles are arranged so that more game balls roll toward the gate 63 when rolling from the second flow path Y than when rolling from the first flow path X.

[0046] The general winning opening 67 is located at the lower left of the game area 50a. A general winning opening sensor 73 is attached to the general winning opening 67, and a winning ball is determined based on the detection result of the general winning opening sensor 73, and the number of prize balls associated with the general winning opening 67 (4 in this embodiment) is awarded. In this embodiment, the obstacles are arranged so that more game balls roll toward the general winning opening 67 when rolling from the first flow path X compared to when rolling from the second flow path Y, but the obstacles may be arranged so that more game balls roll toward the general winning opening 67 when rolling from the second flow path Y. Also, a plurality of general winning openings 67 may be provided.

[0047] The outlet 69 is disposed at the bottom of the game area 50a. A game ball that is shot into the game area 50a and does not enter any of the winning holes falls into the outlet 69 and is treated as an out ball. In this embodiment, an out ball sensor 75 (not shown) is provided for detecting game balls (hereinafter referred to as "out balls") that have entered the winning hole and the out hole.

[0048] In addition to the sensors mentioned above, the game board 50 is also provided with a magnetic detection sensor for detecting magnetism and a radio wave detection sensor for detecting radio waves (both not shown) in order to prevent fraudulent acts such as receiving prize balls illegally.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 5, the rear of the game board 50 is fitted with a main control board case 109 in which the main control board 100 is stored, a first sub-control board case 209 in which the first sub-control board 200 is stored, a second sub-control board case 309 in which the second sub-control board 300 is stored, a power supply control board case 509 in which the power supply control board 500 is stored, and a payout control board case 409 in which the payout control board 400 is stored. In addition to the rear of the first sub-control board case 209 and the second sub-control board case 309, an opening / closing cover 45 which covers part of the rear of the main control board case 109 is attached in a removable manner. In addition, the main control board 100 is provided with a RAM clear switch 43. Furthermore, the substrate cases and covers that cover the respective substrates are made of transparent materials, and the corresponding substrates can be seen through the respective substrate cases and covers.

[0050] The power supply control board 500 is composed of a normal power supply circuit 501 that generates normal power to be supplied to electronic and electrical components such as the control board mentioned above based on the primary power supply supplied from the game island's power supply equipment, a backup power supply circuit 502 that generates backup power, and a power interruption detection circuit 503 that detects power interruption (when the voltage supplied by the normal power supply drops to a specified voltage). In addition, a power switch 40 is connected to the power supply control board 500, and assuming that primary power is supplied from the power supply equipment of the game island, when the power switch 40 is turned ON, normal power is generated in the normal power supply circuit 501 of the power supply control board 500, and power is supplied to electronic and electrical components including the above-mentioned control boards (main control board 100, first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300, and payout control board 400). In addition, when a power interruption is detected by the power interruption detection circuit 503, the power supply control board 500 transmits a power interruption signal (NMI signal) to each of the main control board 100, the first sub-control board 200, and the dispensing control board 400. In addition, the backup power circuit 502 is configured to be charged when power is being supplied to the gaming machine 10 from the power supply equipment of the gaming island. In addition, the backup power supply circuit 502 may be provided on the dispensing control board 400, and the power interruption detection circuit 503 may not be provided on the power supply control board 500, but may be provided on each of the main control board 100, the first sub-control board 200, and the dispensing control board 400.

[0051] A game ball tank 46 for storing game balls supplied from the ball supply facility of the game island is disposed on the back of the game board 50, above the opening and closing cover 45. The game ball tank 46 is further connected to a payout passage 49 leading to the upper ball tray 27 via a tank rail 47 and a payout unit 48, and the balls paid out by the payout unit 48 are paid out to the upper ball tray 27 through the payout passage 49.

[0052] So far, the structure of the gaming machine 10 in this embodiment has been described, but this is only one specific example, and the present invention can also be implemented with a different configuration.

[0053] <Regarding the control configuration of the gaming machine 10> Next, a control configuration of the gaming machine 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the gaming machine 10. Note that the control configuration shown in Fig. 6 is necessary for explaining the gaming machine 10 according to the present embodiment, and the gaming machine 10 may have a control configuration not shown in Fig. 6.

[0054] The main control board 100 is equipped with a CPU 101 which performs various calculation processes related to the game, a ROM 102 which stores data such as control programs and various lottery tables, a RAM 103 which functions as a work area and buffer memory that serves as a temporary storage area, an I / O port 104 which inputs and outputs signals between peripheral boards and each device, and a random number circuit 105 which operates in a system separate from the program processing by the CPU 101 and generates random numbers (hard random numbers), and these are connected to each other via an internal bus.

[0055] The CPU 101 executes various processes related to the main control of the game by reading out various control programs stored in the ROM 102 and performing arithmetic processing. The RAM 103 is backed up by a backup power source generated in a backup power circuit described later. Specifically, among the information stored in the RAM 103, various information is backed up so that when power is restored after a power outage, the gaming machine 10 can be restored to the state it was in immediately before the power outage using the data. For example, in addition to data such as a stack pointer and each register that were held when the power outage occurred, information related to the game, such as the state of the gaming machine 10 at that time (a game stop state or a game available state), the current special drawing state, and the current normal drawing state, is backed up.

[0056] In this embodiment, at least an area in which such information related to the game is stored (sometimes referred to as the area of ​​RAM 103 related to the game) is backed up, as well as an area in which the complement of the checksum and the backup flag related to the area of ​​RAM 103 related to the game are stored (sometimes referred to as the backup information area of ​​RAM 103 related to the game). Then, when power is restored, the gaming machine 10 returns to normal using the various pieces of information stored in the backed up area of ​​RAM 103 related to the game and the backup information area of ​​RAM 103 related to the game. In addition, the specific method of backup in this embodiment is not limited. For example, the area to be backed up in the RAM 103 may be realized with a configuration capable of holding data in a non-volatile manner even in a power-off state. As another example, in the RAM 103, a first memory configured to hold data in a non-volatile manner even in a power-off state and a second memory referenced during operation of the gaming machine 10 may be provided with different hardware. In that case, the gaming machine 10 may save information to be backed up from the second memory to the first memory when power is cut off, and recover the saved information from the first memory to the second memory when power is restored.

[0057] The main control board 100 is also electrically connected to the first start opening sensor 70, the second start opening sensor 71, the special prize opening sensor 72, the general prize opening sensor 73, the gate sensor 74, the out ball sensor 75, the middle frame door opening sensor 76, the front frame door opening sensor 77, etc., and is configured to be able to input detection signals from these sensors to the CPU 101 via the I / O port 104. Although not shown in the figure, in addition to these sensors, the main control board 100 is also electrically connected to a full tank detection sensor, a magnetic detection sensor, and a radio wave detection sensor, and is configured to be able to input detection signals from these sensors to the CPU 101 via the I / O port 104.

[0058] In addition, the main control board 100 is electrically connected to the first special pattern display device 91, the second special pattern display device 92, the normal pattern display device 93, the first special pattern hold lamp 94, the second special pattern hold lamp 95, the normal pattern hold lamp 96, the normal electric role solenoid 62 and the special electric role solenoid 66, and is configured to be able to control these via the I / O port 104. Similarly, main control board 100 is electrically connected to main operation unit 39 and RAM clear switch 43, and is configured to be able to detect the operation of main operation unit 39.

[0059] The main control board 100 and the first sub-control board 200 are connected by eight parallel signal lines and one strobe line, and are connected so that communication is possible in only one direction, from the main control board 100 to the first sub-control board 200, and various performance control commands are transmitted from the main control board 100 to the first sub-control board 200. Furthermore, data cannot be transmitted from the first sub-control board 200 to the main control board 100, and the first sub-control board 200 is configured not to be able to request the main control board 100 to transmit data. In addition, in this embodiment, a parallel transmission method is used for transmitting data from the main control board 100 to the first sub-control board 200, but a serial transmission method may also be used.

[0060] The first sub-control board 200 comprises a CPU 201 which performs various arithmetic processing related to game presentation based on presentation control commands from the main control board 100, a ROM 202 which stores data such as presentation control programs and various lottery tables, a RAM 203 which functions as a work area or buffer memory that serves as a temporary storage area, and an I / O port 204 which inputs and outputs signals between peripheral boards and each device. These are interconnected via an internal bus, and the CPU 201 is configured to execute main control related to game presentation in accordance with the control program stored in ROM 202. In addition, the first sub-control board 200 is electrically connected to the performance button 37 and the cursor button 38, and is configured to be able to detect the operation of these operating sections.

[0061] In addition, the first sub-control board 200, through performance control processing based on performance control commands from the main control board 100, generates image control commands that instruct the image to be displayed on the second sub-control board 300, audio control commands that instruct the audio to be output to the audio control board 310, lamp control data for controlling the lighting of various lamps such as the frame lamp 35, and movement control data for controlling the movement of movable bodies such as the movable decorative body 22 and the sub-display unit 82. Here, the first sub-control board 200 is connected to the second sub-control board 300 and the voice control board 310 to enable two-way communication, and each control command (image control command, voice control command) is transmitted from the first sub-control board 200 to the second sub-control board 300 or the voice control board 310, while in response, a response command (ACK command) indicating that the control command was successfully received is transmitted from each control board (second sub-control board 300, voice control board 310) to the first sub-control board 200.

[0062] The first sub-control board 200 is also electrically connected to the frame lamp 35 and the lamps provided on the movable decorative body 22, and transmits lamp control data via the I / O port 204. The frame lamp 35 is configured so that its illumination is controlled by the lamp control data transmitted from the first sub-control board 200.

[0063] The second sub-control board 300 is equipped with a CPU that performs various arithmetic processing related to image presentation based on image control commands from the first sub-control board 200, a ROM that stores image control programs and various data, etc., a RAM that functions as a work area and buffer memory that serves as a temporary storage area, and an I / O port that inputs and outputs signals between peripheral boards and each device, and is configured so that the CPU executes main control related to image presentation in accordance with the control program stored in the ROM (all not shown). In addition, the second sub-control board 300 is equipped with a VDP (not shown) that generates image data according to the content of the performance determined by a performance content determination means 225 (described later) based on a control signal received from the CPU, and a sound source IC that generates sound data according to the content of the performance based on a control signal received from the CPU. The VDP is a so-called image processor that reads image data stored in an image ROM in response to an instruction from the CPU, processes the image data, and transmits the generated image data to the main display unit 81 and the sub-display unit 82. A high-speed VRAM is also connected to this VDP, which is used to expand and process the image data read from the image ROM.

[0064] The audio control board 310 includes a CPU 311 that performs various arithmetic processing related to audio performance based on audio control commands from the first sub-control board 200, a ROM 312 that stores audio control programs and audio data, a RAM 313 that functions as a work area or buffer memory serving as a temporary storage area, and an I / O port 314 that inputs and outputs signals between the peripheral boards and each device, and is configured such that the CPU 311 executes main control related to audio performance according to the control program stored in the ROM 312. Thus, the audio control board 310 reads audio data stored in the ROM 312 in response to audio control commands received from the first sub-control board 200, synthesizes the read audio data, and transmits the final synthesized audio data to the speaker 33 via an amplifier, thereby enabling the speaker 33 to output audio.

[0065] The dispensing control board 400 is mainly composed of a CPU, a ROM and a RAM (all not shown). In addition, the payout control board 400 is connected to the main control board 100 for two-way communication, and performs control to drive a payout unit (not shown) to pay out game balls based on a payout control command from the main control board 100, and controls the launch of game balls by synchronously driving the ball feeding mechanism and the launch mechanism based on the amount of operation of an operating handle (not shown).

[0066] The power supply control board 500 is composed of a normal power supply circuit 501 that generates normal power to be supplied to electronic and electrical components such as the control board mentioned above based on the primary power supply supplied from the game island's power supply equipment, a backup power supply circuit 502 that generates backup power, and a power interruption detection circuit 503 that detects power interruption (when the voltage supplied by the normal power supply drops to a specified voltage). In addition, a power switch 40 is connected to the power supply control board 500, and assuming that primary power is supplied from the power supply equipment of the game island, when the power switch 40 is turned ON, normal power is generated in the normal power supply circuit 501 of the power supply control board 500, and power is supplied to electronic and electrical components including the above-mentioned control boards (main control board 100, first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300, and payout control board 400). In addition, when a power interruption is detected by the power interruption detection circuit 503, the power supply control board 500 transmits a power interruption signal (NMI signal) to each of the main control board 100, the first sub-control board 200, and the dispensing control board 400. In addition, the backup power circuit 502 is configured to be charged when power is being supplied to the gaming machine 10 from the power supply equipment of the gaming island. In addition, the backup power supply circuit 502 may be provided on the dispensing control board 400, and the power interruption detection circuit 503 may not be provided on the power supply control board 500, but may be provided on each of the main control board 100, the first sub-control board 200, and the dispensing control board 400.

[0067] <Functional Configuration of the Gaming Machine 10> Next, the functional configuration of the gaming machine 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the gaming machine 10. Note that the functional configuration shown in Fig. 7 is necessary for explaining the gaming machine 10 of this embodiment, and the gaming machine 10 may have a functional configuration not shown in Fig. 7. Also, when explaining the functional configuration, Figs. 8 to 10 will be referred to as necessary.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 7, the main control board 100 is equipped with a ball entry determination means 110, a main random number generation means 115, a main hold control means 120, a pre-determination means 125, a special chart lottery means 130, a normal chart lottery means 135, a jackpot game control means 140, a pattern display control means 145, an electric gimmick control means 150, a game status control means 155, a main information storage means 160, a main error control means 165, a main command management means 170, a power restoration processing execution means 175, and a power outage processing execution means 180. These means are functional representations of what is realized by each control configuration on the main control board 100 described using FIG. 6.

[0069] The main information storage means 160 is a means for temporarily storing data read by the means included in the main control board 100, data derived by calculations in the means, etc., in the corresponding storage areas. In particular, the data (performance control commands) stored in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160 is transmitted by the main command management means 170 to the sub-command management means 270 of the first sub-control board 200 (described later) after being stored.

[0070] The winning ball determination means 110 determines whether a ball has been won at each winning hole based on the detection results of a sensor provided at each winning hole.

[0071] The main random number generation means 115 is capable of generating multiple types of random numbers with different update ranges depending on the random number circuit 105, and when a win at a winning port is determined, it obtains (latches) one or more random numbers corresponding to that winning port from the random number circuit 105. More specifically, when it is determined that the first start gate 57 or the second start gate 59 has been won, the main random number generating means 115 obtains a random number for determining whether or not the special symbol has been won, a random number for drawing a special symbol stop symbol, and a random number for drawing a special symbol change pattern, which will be described later. When it is determined that the gate 63 has been won, the main random number generating means 115 stores a random number for determining whether or not the normal symbol has been won, a random number for drawing a normal symbol stop symbol, and a random number for drawing a normal symbol change pattern, which will be described later, in a corresponding storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160. The random number circuit 105 monitors whether the multiple types of random numbers it updates are being updated normally, and if an update abnormality occurs in which the random numbers are not updated normally, information indicating the occurrence of the abnormality is written to a specific storage area of ​​the random number circuit 105. Therefore, the CPU 101 can grasp that an update abnormality has occurred in the random number circuit 105.

[0072] The main reservation control means 120 controls the reservation of the pattern change of the special chart and the reservation of the pattern change of the normal chart. Regarding the special chart 1, the random number for determining whether the special chart is a hit or not, the random number for drawing the special chart stop pattern, and the random number for drawing the special chart change pattern, which are obtained as a result of winning the first starting port 57, are reserved (stored) as operation reservation information for the special chart 1. More specifically, the main hold control means 120 is provided with a hold counter (hereinafter referred to as the "special chart 1 hold counter") which is incremented by 1 each time the activation hold information of special chart 1 is held and decremented by 1 each time the activation hold information of special chart 1 is used (used in the draw by the special chart draw means 130), and stores the activation hold information in a storage area corresponding to the current special chart 1 hold counter of the main information storage means 160 until the value of the special chart 1 hold counter reaches an upper limit value (4 in this embodiment), and clears the used activation hold information each time the activation hold information is used, and controls the remaining activation hold information to be moved (shifted) from the current storage area to a storage area corresponding to a special chart 1 hold counter which is 1 less than the current special chart 1 hold counter, in order from the smallest special chart 1 hold counter. In addition, the main reservation control means 120 performs the same control as described above for special drawing 2 and ordinary drawing separately from special drawing 1, and the reservation counter for special drawing 2 is referred to as the special drawing 2 reservation counter. In addition, in the following explanation, "suspending operation suspension information" may be expressed as "suspending pattern change." In addition, when the main hold control means 120 updates (adds or subtracts) the operation hold information (hold counter) of special chart 1 or special chart 2, it generates a performance control command (hold command) including the special chart 1 hold counter and the special chart 2 hold counter, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160. In this embodiment, when both the activation pending information corresponding to special drawing 1 and the activation pending information corresponding to special drawing 2 are reserved, a priority change is performed in which the activation pending information corresponding to special drawing 2 is used preferentially.

[0073] The advance judgment means 125 executes an advance judgment for a pre-reading performance targeting the pending activation information in at least some cases where the pending activation information of a special chart is pending at a predetermined advance judgment timing. More specifically, the pre-judgment means 125 reads out each random number of the operation pending information that has been reserved this time, and executes pre-judgment for each of the special chart hit / miss judgment, special chart stop pattern lottery, and special chart change pattern lottery, which will be described later. In each pre-judgment, a lottery table (not shown) that is the same as or equivalent to the lottery table used in the lottery corresponding to each pre-judgment is used. Therefore, the results of these pre-judgments will be the same as the results of the lottery that will be executed later. Furthermore, the pre-determination means 125 generates a performance control command (pre-determination command) including the derived result of the pre-determination, and stores the command in a transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160. As described above, the pre-determination command is transmitted (generated and stored in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160) in at least some cases where the operation pending information of the special chart is reserved at the timing of a predetermined pre-determination, and therefore is transmitted following the above-mentioned reserved command. Here, the predetermined timing of pre-determination refers to not being during a jackpot game, and further, in this embodiment, when the operation pending information of the special chart 1 is reserved during a normal chart high probability to be described later, the pre-determination is restricted, and therefore the transmission of the pre-determination command corresponding to the pre-determination is also restricted.

[0074] The special drawing means 130 includes a special drawing hit / miss judgment means 131, a special drawing stop pattern lottery means 132, and a special drawing change pattern derivation means 133, and executes processing by each means in the order of the special drawing hit / miss judgment means 131, the special drawing stop pattern lottery means 132, and the special drawing change pattern derivation means 133. When the special drawing change start condition is satisfied, the special drawing lottery means 130 reads out the earliest operation pending information among the operation pending information reserved in the main information storage means 160. In addition, "the conditions for the special chart to start changing are satisfied" means, for example, that all of the following conditions are satisfied: a jackpot is not being reached, neither Special Chart 1 nor Special Chart 2 is changing patterns, and at least one of Special Chart 1 and Special Chart 2 has pending activation information.

[0075] Here, Figs. 8(a) to 8(c), 9(a) and 9(b) are diagrams that typically show lottery tables used in the main control board 100, and will be referred to as necessary in the following description. In addition, in a lottery using a lottery table, including other lottery tables, the lottery values ​​stored in the lottery table are added to the read random number in a predetermined order (if there is only one lottery value, the addition is performed once), and a result corresponding to the lottery value where a carry (overflow) occurs is derived as the result of the lottery. Similarly, in the explanation of the lottery table, the lottery table is given a name for convenience of explanation, but it is sufficient that the data such as the lottery value included in the lottery table corresponding to the name is identifiably stored in each ROM, and these names do not specify the area in which the data is stored. In the illustrated lottery table, there may be items described for convenience of explanation, or "-" or "0" may be described as the lottery value, but these do not necessarily indicate the data stored in each ROM. And, a result in which "-" or "0" is described as the lottery value will not win. Furthermore, if the same lottery value as the random number range used for the lottery (the number of random numbers that can be obtained in the range) is described in the lottery table, the result is derived 100%, so it is not necessary to perform a lottery. Furthermore, if the total value of the lottery values ​​used in one lottery matches the random number range used in the lottery, a carry will always occur when adding the final lottery value, so that addition does not need to be performed, and in that case, the lottery values ​​used in that addition themselves become unnecessary.

[0076] The special pattern hit / miss judgment means 131 reads out a random number for the special pattern hit / miss judgment for each pattern change, and executes a special pattern hit / miss judgment to judge by lottery whether a jackpot or a miss will be won, using the read out random number and a lottery table for the special pattern hit / miss judgment. FIG. 8(a) is a diagram showing a schematic drawing of a lottery table for determining whether or not a special drawing is a hit, and the lottery table is used in common for special drawings 1 and 2. The range of random numbers used in the determination is 0 to 65535, so when the special drawing state is in a low probability state (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "low probability of special drawing"), a big hit is derived with a probability of 230 / 65536 (approximately 1 / 284.9), and when a big hit is not derived, it is a miss. Similarly, when the special drawing state is in a high probability state (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "special drawing high probability"), a jackpot is derived with a probability of 499 / 65536 (approximately 1 / 131.3), and if a jackpot is not derived, it is a miss.

[0077] When the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment is a big hit, the special chart stop pattern drawing means 132 reads out a random number for the special chart stop pattern drawing, and determines the special chart stop pattern by drawing lots using the read out random number and a lottery table for the special chart stop pattern drawing. Figure 8(b) is a diagram showing a schematic drawing of a drawing table for drawing the stop symbol of special symbol 1, and the range of random numbers used in the drawing is 0 to 99. Therefore, when a jackpot is derived from special symbol 1, symbol A is determined as the stop symbol with a probability of 50 / 100 (1 / 2), symbol B with a probability of 40 / 100 (1 / 2.5), and symbol C with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10). Here, the number of rounds of the pattern A is 8, and the pattern A is a pattern that becomes a low probability of a special pattern and a high probability of a normal pattern after the end of the jackpot game (hereinafter, it may be referred to as a "normal pattern", and the jackpot related to the pattern may be referred to as a "normal jackpot"). On the other hand, the number of rounds of the pattern B is 9, and the pattern B is a pattern that becomes a high probability of a special pattern and a high probability of a normal pattern after the end of the jackpot game (hereinafter, it may be referred to as a "probability variable pattern", and the jackpot related to the pattern may be referred to as a "probability variable jackpot"). Furthermore, the number of rounds of the pattern C is 16, and the pattern C is a probability variable pattern that becomes a high probability of a special pattern and a high probability of a normal pattern after the end of the jackpot game. Therefore, the pattern C is more advantageous than the pattern B in terms of the number of rounds, and the patterns B and C are more advantageous than the pattern A in terms of both the number of rounds and the special pattern selection state after the jackpot game. Figure 8(c) is a diagram showing a schematic drawing of a drawing table for drawing the stop symbol of special symbol 2, and the range of random numbers used in the drawing is 0 to 99, similar to the drawing of the stop symbol of special symbol 1. Therefore, when a jackpot is derived in special symbol 2, symbol a is determined as the stop symbol with a probability of 65 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.53), and symbol b is determined as the stop symbol with a probability of 35 / 100 (approximately 1 / 2.85). Here, pattern a is a probability variation pattern with 16 rounds and high probability of special and high probability of normal after the end of the jackpot game, and pattern b is a normal pattern with 4 rounds and low probability of special and high probability after the end of the jackpot game. Therefore, pattern a can be said to be more advantageous than pattern b in both the number of rounds and the subsequent special drawing state. In addition, if the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment is not a jackpot, the special chart stop pattern lottery means 132 uniformly determines pattern D as the stop pattern when special chart 1 is a miss, and pattern c when special chart 2 is a miss. In addition, in this embodiment, the rate at which the special chart becomes highly probable after the end of a jackpot game using special chart 1 (50 / 100) is different from the rate at which the special chart becomes highly probable after the end of a jackpot game using special chart 2 (65 / 100) (the pattern change of special chart 2 is more favorable than the pattern change of special chart 1). Although details are omitted, this difference is realized by providing a function to make the special chart highly probable after the end of a jackpot game when the game ball passes through the V winning area (not shown) provided in the large winning port 55 during a jackpot game (when the sensor provided in the V winning area detects the game ball), and by changing whether or not to provide a round (the 9th round in this embodiment) that makes it easier to pass through the V winning area, depending on the stopping pattern of the special chart.

[0078] The special chart fluctuation pattern derivation means 133 has a plurality of types of special chart fluctuation pattern selection tables to be referred to when determining the special chart fluctuation pattern, and selects one special chart fluctuation pattern selection table for determining the current special chart fluctuation pattern based on the current special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state and the result of the current special chart hit / miss judgment, determines one special chart fluctuation pattern using the selected special chart fluctuation pattern selection table and a random number for special chart fluctuation pattern selection, and determines the fluctuation time based on the determined special chart fluctuation pattern. In addition, although details of the transition conditions etc. will be described later, the special chart variation pattern derivation state in this embodiment includes a special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, a special chart variation pattern derivation state PB, and a special chart variation pattern derivation state PC. The above-mentioned method of determining the special chart variation pattern is adopted for the pattern variation of special chart 1 in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, and is adopted for the pattern variation of special chart 2 in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB and the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC, and the pattern variation of the other special chart in each special chart variation pattern derivation state is determined to be a predetermined special chart variation pattern according to the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment.

[0079] FIG. 9(a) is a diagram showing a schematic drawing of a lottery table for deriving a special pattern variation pattern in the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PA. The range of random numbers used in the lottery is 0 to 999. Therefore, if the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment during the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PA is a miss, the special chart fluctuation pattern HNP is determined with a probability of 900 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 1.11), the special chart fluctuation pattern HRP is determined with a probability of 52 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 19.2), the special chart fluctuation pattern HSP1-A is determined with a probability of 13 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 76.9), the HSP1-B is determined with a probability of 11 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 90.9), the HSP2-A is determined with a probability of 9 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 111), the HSP2-B is determined with a probability of 7 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 143), the HSP3-A is determined with a probability of 5 / 1000 (1 / 200), and the HSP3-B is determined with a probability of 3 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 333). In this case, the special chart fluctuation pattern ASP1-A to the special chart fluctuation pattern ASP3-C are not determined. In addition, details will be described later using Figure 9 (b), but when the special pattern change pattern HNP is determined, the special pattern change pattern is further specified using the value of the special pattern 1 pending counter at the time when the pattern change starts. If the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment during the special chart change pattern derivation state PA is a jackpot, the special chart change pattern ASP1-A will be determined with a probability of 90 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 11.1), the special chart change pattern ASP1-B with a probability of 110 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 9.09), the special chart change pattern ASP2-A with a probability of 135 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 7.41), the special chart change pattern ASP2-B with a probability of 165 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 6.06), the special chart change pattern ASP3-A with a probability of 180 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 5.56), the special chart change pattern ASP3-B with a probability of 220 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 4.56), and the special chart change pattern ASP3-C with a probability of 100 / 1000 (1 / 10). In this case, the special chart variation pattern HNP to the special chart variation pattern HSP3-B are not determined. In addition, in the explanation of the special chart variation patterns of this embodiment, when two special chart variation patterns are described with "~" between them, the description of the special chart variation pattern existing between the special chart variation pattern described earlier and the special chart variation pattern described later in the order described in Figure 9(a) or Figure 9(b) described below is omitted. Also, although not shown in the figures, in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB and the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC, the special chart variation pattern is selected by lottery based on the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment, just as in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA.

[0080] Figure 9(b) is a diagram showing a schematic drawing of a lottery table for deriving a special chart variation pattern used when the special chart variation pattern HNP is determined. As described above, in this lottery, the special chart variation pattern is further identified using the value of the special chart 1 pending counter. First, as shown in Figure 9(b), the special chart fluctuation patterns HNP include special chart fluctuation pattern HNP-A with a fluctuation time of 3200 ms (milliseconds), special chart fluctuation pattern HNP-B with a fluctuation time of 5600 ms, special chart fluctuation pattern HNP-C with a fluctuation time of 8000 ms, and special chart fluctuation pattern HNP-D with a fluctuation time of 11200 ms, in that order of longest fluctuation time. The range of the random numbers used in this lottery (different from the random numbers used in the lottery related to the lottery table shown in FIG. 9(a)) is 0 to 999. Therefore, when the pattern variation starts, if the special pattern 1 reserved counter is 3 (hereinafter, may be referred to as "reserved 3"), the special pattern variation pattern HNP-A is determined with a probability of 1000 / 1000 (1 / 1), and in this case, the special pattern variation pattern HNP-B to the special pattern variation pattern HNP-D are not determined. Also, when the pattern variation starts, if the special pattern 1 reserved counter is 2 (hereinafter, may be referred to as "reserved 2"), the special pattern variation pattern HNP-A is determined with a probability of 150 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 6.67), and the special pattern variation pattern HNP-B is determined with a probability of 850 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 1.18), and in this case, the special pattern variation pattern HNP-C and the special pattern variation pattern HNP-D are not determined. If the special pattern 1 reserved counter = 1 (hereinafter referred to as "reserved 1") at the start of the pattern change, special pattern change pattern HNP-A is determined with a probability of 50 / 1000 (1 / 20), special pattern change pattern HNP-B with a probability of 150 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 6.67), and special pattern change pattern HNP-C with a probability of 800 / 1000 (1 / 1.25), and in this case, special pattern change pattern HNP-D will never be determined. When the pattern change starts, if the special pattern 1 reserved counter is 0 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "reserved 0"), the special pattern change pattern HNP-B is determined with a probability of 50 / 1000 (1 / 20), the special pattern change pattern HNP-C is determined with a probability of 100 / 1000 (1 / 10), and the special pattern change pattern HNP-D is determined with a probability of 850 / 1000 (approximately 1 / 1.18), and in this case, the special pattern change pattern HNP-A is not determined. In the following explanation, in addition to the above-mentioned "reserved 3", "reserved 2", "reserved 1", and "reserved 0", the case where the special pattern 1 reserved counter is 4 may be referred to as "reserved 4". In this way, when the special pattern change pattern HNP is determined, the special pattern change pattern (change time) that is likely to be determined by the value of the special pattern 1 reserved counter at the start of the pattern change differs. More specifically, the smaller the value of the special pattern 1 reserved counter at the start of the pattern change, the more likely it is that a long pattern change will be determined (the larger the value of the special pattern 1 reserved counter at the start of the pattern change, the more likely it is that a short change time will be determined). In addition, such special chart fluctuation patterns (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "basic special chart fluctuation patterns") also exist in the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB and the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PC, and although the types of corresponding basic special chart fluctuation patterns and their respective lengths differ, their tendencies (the relationship between the value of the pending counter (the value of the special chart 2 pending counter in the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB and the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PC) and the special chart fluctuation pattern (fluctuation time) that is likely to be determined) are the same as those in the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PA.

[0081] In addition, at the start of the pattern change, the special chart change pattern derivation means 133 generates a performance control command (change start command) including the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment, the determined stopping pattern of the special chart, and the determined special chart change pattern, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160.

[0082] The regular map lottery means 135, like the special map lottery means 130, reads out the most recent pending operation information from the pending operation information stored in the main information storage means 160 when the regular map pattern is not changing, and uses the read random number to execute a regular map hit / miss judgment to determine whether the regular map is a hit or not, and if the regular map hit / miss judgment results in the regular map being controlled to an open state, executes a regular map stop pattern lottery to determine the stopping pattern of the regular map by lottery, and a regular map change pattern lottery to determine the change pattern (change time) of the regular map by lottery. More specifically, in the normal drawing hit / miss judgment, there are a normal drawing lottery state with a high probability (sometimes abbreviated as "normal drawing high probability") and a normal drawing lottery state with a low probability (sometimes abbreviated as "normal drawing low probability"). Although the drawing of the lottery table is omitted, in this embodiment, in the normal drawing high probability, the probability of a normal drawing hit is 65535 / 65536, and the remaining probability of a 1 / 65536 miss, while in the normal drawing low probability, the probability of a normal drawing hit is 1 / 65536, and the remaining probability of a 65535 / 65536 miss. Note that in the normal drawing low probability, it may be set so that the normal drawing does not hit (65536 / 65536 miss).

[0083] In the normal stop pattern lottery, as in the special stop pattern lottery, one stop pattern is determined by lottery using a lottery table (not shown) for normal stop pattern lottery from multiple types of stop patterns with different patterns that open the normal electric role 61. If the normal pattern is a miss, the stop pattern is determined uniformly as in the special pattern 1 and special pattern 2.

[0084] In addition, in the general map fluctuation pattern lottery, as in the special map fluctuation pattern lottery, one general map fluctuation pattern is determined from multiple types of general map fluctuation patterns by lottery using a lottery table (not shown) for general map fluctuation pattern lottery.

[0085] In this way, a high probability of winning a normal draw is more likely than a low probability of winning a normal draw, and it can be said to be a more advantageous state than a low probability of winning a normal draw.

[0086] When the result of the special symbol winning / losing lottery is a winning symbol, the winning game control means 140 determines the demo time for the winning start demo and the demo time for the winning end demo according to the winning symbol determined. In addition, at the start of a jackpot, the jackpot game control means 140 generates a presentation control command (jackpot start command) including a demo time related to the jackpot start demo and stores it in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160, and at the end of the jackpot, generates a presentation control command (jackpot end command) including a demo time related to the jackpot end demo and stores it in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160.

[0087] The pattern display control means 145 displays the special pattern 1 on the first special pattern display device 91 in a variable manner according to the variable time based on the special pattern variable pattern of the special pattern 1, and displays the special pattern 1 in a stopped pattern determined by the special pattern stop pattern lottery after the variable time has elapsed. Similarly, the special pattern 2 is displayed on the second special pattern display device 92 in a variable manner according to the variable time based on the special pattern variable pattern of the second special pattern, and displays the special pattern 2 in a stopped pattern determined by the special pattern stop pattern lottery after the variable time has elapsed. In addition, the pattern display control means 145 has a special chart game timer for managing the time (variation time, stop display time) related to the display of special chart 1 and special chart 2, and when the special chart is stopped (at the timing when the value of the special chart game timer becomes "0"), it generates a presentation control command (variation stop command) for requesting a fixed stop display of the decorative pattern, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160. Here, the definite stop display of the decorative pattern refers to the final stop display of the decorative pattern in the pattern change, and is different from the provisional stop display of the decorative pattern that may occur during the execution of the pattern change. In the provisional stop display of the decorative pattern, for example, the decorative pattern displayed as stopped is accompanied by a movement in which the decorative pattern is slightly swaying up and down (so-called swaying fluctuation), while in the definite stop display of the decorative pattern, the decorative pattern displayed as stopped is not accompanied by a swaying fluctuation, and so on. Thus, the stop display mode of the decorative pattern displayed as definite stop is different from the stop display mode of the decorative pattern displayed as provisional stop. Therefore, the player can recognize whether the stop display of the decorative pattern is a definite stop display or a provisional stop display.

[0088] In addition, the pattern display control means 145 causes the normal map to be displayed on the normal pattern display device 93 in a variable manner in accordance with the normal map fluctuation pattern (fluctuation time) of the normal map, and after the fluctuation time has elapsed, causes the normal map to be displayed in a stopped pattern determined by a normal map stop pattern lottery. In addition, the symbol display control means 145 has a regular symbol game timer for managing the time related to the display of the regular symbol (variable time, stop display time).

[0089] When the result of the special drawing lottery is a jackpot, the electric device control means 150 outputs a control signal to the special electric device solenoid 66 after the special device stops, and opens the special electric device 65 according to an opening pattern corresponding to the stopped pattern of the special device. The jackpot game is a game state in which one opening and closing operation of the special electric device 65 is regarded as one round game, and the round game is continuously performed for a specified number of rounds (16R, 9R, 8R, 4R in this example).

[0090] In addition, when the normal winning / losing lottery is won, the electric role control means 150 outputs a control signal to the normal electric role solenoid 62 to open the normal electric role 61 according to an opening pattern corresponding to the stopping pattern of the normal figure.

[0091] The game state control means 155 controls the special symbol lottery state. Specifically, as described above, the game state control means 155 sets the special symbol low probability at the start of the jackpot game regardless of the symbol related to the jackpot, maintains the special symbol low probability at the end of the jackpot game related to the normal jackpot, and sets the special symbol high probability at the end of the jackpot game related to the probability variable jackpot.

[0092] In addition, the game state control means 155 controls the normal drawing state. Specifically, the game state control means 155 sets the normal drawing state to low probability regardless of the drawing state at the start of the jackpot, sets the normal drawing state to high probability until 100 pattern changes are made at the end of the jackpot game related to the normal jackpot (after 100 pattern changes, the normal drawing state to low probability), and sets the normal drawing state to high probability until the start of the next jackpot game at the end of the jackpot related to the probability change jackpot (including the case where a finite number of times (e.g., 5000 times) sufficient to derive the jackpot is set).

[0093] In addition, the game state control means 155 controls the above-mentioned special chart variation pattern derivation state. The transition of this special chart variation pattern derivation state will be explained with reference to Figures 10(a) and 10(b). Note that Figure 10(a) is a state transition diagram showing the transition of the special chart variation pattern derivation state, and Figure 10(b) is a diagram showing the relationship of the average variation time for each special chart variation pattern derivation state. As shown in FIG. 10(a), the special chart variation pattern derivation state is composed of the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA corresponding to low probability of special chart and low probability of normal chart, the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB corresponding to high probability of special chart and high probability of normal chart, and the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC corresponding to low probability of special chart and high probability of normal chart, and the special chart variation pattern derivation state is set according to the special chart lottery state and the normal chart lottery state except during a jackpot game. The transition conditions between the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA and the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC include transition conditions (i) to (iii). Transition condition (i) is the end of the jackpot game related to the special jackpot, transition condition (ii) is the end of the jackpot game related to the normal jackpot, and transition condition (iii) is the end of the 100th pattern change. In addition, when a jackpot game related to a normal jackpot is started in the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PC, the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PC will be set again after the jackpot game ends (the pattern variation count in transition condition (iii) will start from 0).

[0094] Also, as shown in Figure 10(b), the average fluctuation time of each of the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PA, special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB, and special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PC (the sum of the fluctuation times derived by multiplying the occurrence rate (the probability that can occur in any pattern fluctuation, which is derived by multiplying the winning probability of the special chart fluctuation pattern by the probability that the result of the special chart win / loss judgment is derived) for the fluctuation time of the special chart fluctuation pattern that can be selected in the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state) is shorter in the order of special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PA, special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PC, and special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB. This is mainly due to the difference in the length of the fluctuation time of the basic special chart fluctuation pattern that has the highest selection rate in each special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the difference between the average fluctuation time of the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PA and the average time of the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PC is greater than the difference between the average fluctuation time of the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PC and the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB.

[0095] In addition, when an update occurs to the special chart lottery state, the regular chart lottery state, and the special chart variation pattern derivation state, the game state control means 155 generates a presentation control command (game state designation command) including each state after the update, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160.

[0096] As described above, the main information storage means 160 is a means for temporarily storing data read by each means, data derived by calculations or the like by each means, etc., in the corresponding storage areas.

[0097] The main error control means 165 monitors the input information of the I / O port 104 and judges whether or not the gaming machine 10 is in an error state. If it is judged that the gaming machine 10 is in an error state, a performance control command (error command) including information capable of identifying the error state is stored in a transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160. In this embodiment, the error states determined by the main error control means 165 include, for example, a main board error based on the occurrence of the update abnormality described above, a magnetic error based on magnetic detection by a magnetic detection sensor, a radio wave error based on radio wave detection by a radio wave detection sensor, a right hit error based on detection of a game ball by the gate sensor 74, a door open error based on detection of the opening of the middle frame 17 by the middle frame open door sensor 76 or the opening of the front frame 20 by the front frame open door sensor 77, a full tank error based on detection of a game ball by the full tank detection sensor, etc. The occurrence or non-occurrence of an error state according to this embodiment is monitored during a playable state described later. To summarize some of the occurrence conditions of these errors, the main board error is an error state indicating an update abnormality of the random number circuit 105 as described above, and occurs when the update abnormality occurs. The magnetic error is an error state that occurs when magnetic detection by the magnetic detection sensor occurs continuously for 500 ms, and the radio wave error is an error state that occurs when the number of radio wave detections by the radio wave detection sensor (the cumulative number of times since the previous power-on) occurs a total of five times. In addition, the right-hit error is an error state that occurs when the gate sensor 74 detects a game ball three times (the number of detections is reset 1000 ms after the last detection) during normal times (low probability of special drawing and low probability of normal drawing), and the full tank error is an error state that occurs when the full tank detection sensor is ON, i.e., when a game ball is detected by the full tank detection sensor.

[0098] In this embodiment, among these error states, the main board error, magnetic error, and radio wave error are treated as relatively important error states (hereinafter, simply referred to as "high importance error states"). Therefore, when such an error state of high importance occurs, the main error control means 165 executes a game progress restriction process to prevent the game from progressing, such as restricting the release of game balls by the payout control board 400, in addition to the process of turning on the security signal, thereby causing a game stop state to occur, which will be described later. Here, the security signal is a type of signal output from an external terminal board (not shown) provided on the gaming machine 10 to a device outside the gaming machine (a data display device or a hall computer). Including the following explanation, turning the security signal ON refers to starting the output of the security signal, and turning the security signal OFF refers to ending the output of the security signal. In addition, in the process of turning the security signal OFF in this embodiment, the elapsed time from turning the security signal ON is not taken into consideration, but the elapsed time may be taken into consideration, that is, the security signal may not be turned OFF before a certain time has elapsed since the security signal was turned ON. In this embodiment, when a magnetic error and a radio wave error occur, the process of turning the security signal ON is executed, but the payout control board 400 may not execute the above-mentioned game progress regulation process. Furthermore, when an error state of high importance occurs, the first sub-control board 200 and the second sub-control board 300 execute a notification display that can identify which error state has occurred. Furthermore, these highly important error states can only be released (the error state can be terminated) by cutting off and restoring power, and the security signal related to the error state is turned OFF when the power is cut off (it remains ON until the power is cut off). The error state with a high degree of importance described above is merely an example, and other error states may be provided as the error state.

[0099] On the other hand, for the right hit error, door open error, and full tank error, which are relatively less important error states (hereinafter simply referred to as "less important error states"), the release of game balls is not restricted, and the game continues to be allowed to proceed. When these error states occur, the first sub-control board 200 and the second sub-control board 300 execute a notification effect that can identify which error state has occurred. Also, the right-hit error ends when the execution of the notification effect related to the error state ends, the door open error ends when the middle frame open door sensor 76 detects the middle frame 17 in a closed state or the front frame open door sensor 77 detects the front frame 20 in a closed state, and the full tank error ends when the full tank detection sensor no longer detects game balls. When the termination conditions for these error states are met, a performance control command (return command) indicating that the termination conditions have been met is stored in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160. The above-mentioned error state of low importance is only one example, and other error states may be provided as the error state, such as an abnormal winning error that occurs when a game ball is detected by the large winning opening sensor 72 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the large winning opening 55 is closed during a big win game, and when such an error state is provided, a notification effect related to the error state is executed. Note that the abnormal winning error may be terminated when the notification effect related to the error state is completed, similar to the above-mentioned right hit error. In this embodiment, an error state of high importance is given priority over the above-mentioned error states of low importance.

[0100] When a performance control command is stored in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160, the main command management means 170 transmits the performance control command to the first sub-control board 200. In principle, each performance control command is transmitted in the order in which it is stored in the transmission command storage area of ​​the main information storage means 160.

[0101] The power restoration process execution means 175 includes a restoration state setting means 176 and a playable state transition means 179 .

[0102] The return state setting means 176 executes a return state setting process to set a return state based on whether or not there is an abnormality in the RAM 103 when power is restored, the state at the time of the power outage immediately before the power restoration, the state of the RAM clear switch 43 when power is restored, and the state of the inner frame door open sensor 76 when power is restored. The return states set by this process include a game stop state and a game ready state (which may or may not involve a RAM clear process). Specifically, if there is an abnormality in the RAM 103 when power is restored, the game stop state is set regardless of the state of the RAM clear switch 43 and the state of the middle frame door open sensor 76 when power is restored. Also, if there is no abnormality in the RAM 103 when power is restored and the RAM clear switch 43 when power is restored is ON (pressed state), the RAM clear process is executed on the condition that the middle frame door open sensor 76 when power is restored is ON, and the playable state is set (if the middle frame door open sensor 76 when power is restored is OFF, the RAM clear process is not executed and the playable state is set), and if there is no abnormality in the RAM 103 when power is restored and the RAM clear switch 43 when power is restored is OFF (not pressed state), the RAM clear process is not executed and the playable state is set. Note that when the RAM clear process is executed, the special low probability and normal low probability are set. Here, the game stop state is a return state in which the game cannot proceed by not executing the process according to the detection result of the sensor provided at each winning port (the detection result of the sensor itself does not need to be seen), and the playable state is a return state in which the game can proceed by executing the process according to the detection result of the sensor provided at each winning port.

[0103] In addition, whether or not there is an abnormality in RAM 103 is determined by executing a RAM abnormality check at the beginning of the recovery state setting process (specifically, a process which determines whether or not a backup flag is stored (whether or not the backup flag is ON) in the backup information area related to the target area, derives a checksum of the target area and the complement stored in the backup information area related to the area if the backup flag is stored (if the backup flag is ON), and if the calculation result is 0, determines that the target area is normal, and otherwise determines that the target area is abnormal) on the area related to the game in RAM 103.

[0104] The playable state transition means 179 executes a playable state transition process for transitioning to a playable state when the playable state is set. Specifically, in the game play state transition process, if the security signal output is ON, the process of turning off the security signal output and initializing the device are executed. In the device initial setting, processes such as sending a launch permission command to the payout control board 400 to permit the launch of game balls, setting the state in which balls can enter each winning hole, setting data for starting the random number circuit 105, etc. are executed.

[0105] The power cut-off process execution means 180 executes a power cut-off process based on receiving a power cut-off signal from the power supply control board 500. Specifically, for an area of ​​RAM 103 related to game play, a process is performed in which a checksum for that area is derived and the complement of that checksum is stored in a backup information area of ​​RAM 103 related to game play, and a process is performed in which a backup flag indicating that a power cut process has been performed for that area is turned ON (a backup flag is stored in the backup information area of ​​RAM 103 related to game play).

[0106] As shown in Figure 7, the first sub-control board 200 is equipped with a sub-random number generation means 210, a normal performance control means 220, a sub-error control means 230, a lamp control means 240, a movable prop control means 245, a sub-information storage means 260, and a sub-command management means 270, and these means are functional representations of what is realized by each control configuration on the first sub-control board 200 described using Figure 6. Here, the sub-information storage means 260 is a means for temporarily storing data read by the means included in the first sub-control board 200, data derived by calculation in the means, etc., in the respective corresponding storage areas. Also, the performance control command transmitted from the main command management means 170 is stored in the received command storage area of ​​the sub-information storage means 260 by the sub-command management means 270. In the following explanation, the storage of the performance control command transmitted from the main command management means 170 in the received command storage area of ​​the sub-information storage means 260 by the sub-command management means 270 may be simply expressed as reception of the performance control command.

[0107] The sub-random number generating means 210 can generate random numbers (software random numbers) that are updated by program processing by the CPU 201, and obtains random numbers at the timing when each lottery (details will be described later) is executed by the normal performance control means 220.

[0108] The normal presentation control means 220 includes a presentation mode control means 221, a presentation route determination means 222, a sub-hold control means 223, a look-ahead presentation control means 224, a presentation content determination means 225, a decorative pattern control means 226, and a jackpot presentation control means 227.

[0109] When the presentation mode control means 221 receives a game state designation command, it controls the transition of the presentation mode in a manner consistent with the special chart variation pattern derivation state managed on the main control board 100 side. The presentation modes in this embodiment are broadly divided into normal mode, low-probability time-saving mode, and special probability mode, with the normal mode corresponding to the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PA, the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB corresponding to the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB, and the low-probability time-saving mode corresponding to the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PC.

[0110] When the presentation route determination means 222 receives a pre-determination command, it determines (sets) a presentation route corresponding to the reserved pattern change based on the result of the pre-determination included in the command (in this embodiment, the special pattern change pattern). Note that, when the special pattern change pattern corresponding to the pattern change is the above-mentioned special pattern change pattern HNP, the presentation route determination means 222 does not determine a presentation route when a pre-determination command is transmitted, and determines a presentation route based on the special pattern change pattern (special pattern change pattern HNP-A to special pattern change pattern HNP-D) included in the change start command at the start of the pattern change. Here, the presentation route refers to the presentation from the start to the end of the pattern change, and specifies the process of the presentation that notifies the result of the special pattern determination in the pattern change. The content of the presentation executed in the pattern change is determined by the presentation content determination means 225, which will be described later, in accordance with the presentation route corresponding to the pattern change.

[0111] In this embodiment, in the normal mode, one different presentation route corresponds to each of the special chart variation patterns shown in FIG. 9(a) and FIG. 9(b). These presentation routes are roughly divided into a miss presentation route that notifies that the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment in the current pattern variation is a miss (not a jackpot), and a jackpot presentation route that notifies that the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment in the current pattern variation is a jackpot. Furthermore, the miss presentation route includes a non-development miss presentation route in which the development presentation is not executed, and a development miss presentation route in which the development presentation is executed. Here, the development presentation refers to a presentation that notifies whether the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment in the current pattern variation is a jackpot or not after the decorative pattern becomes a reach state (a state in which the decorative pattern is stopped and displayed except for one pattern row, and the remaining pattern rows are displayed in a variable manner), and in this embodiment, there are three types of development presentation HEA to development presentation HEC, which have different contents from each other. These development presentations are also executed in the jackpot presentation route. Below, the contents of the presentation route corresponding to each special chart change pattern will be explained.

[0112] In the development performance HEA to development performance HEC corresponding to the failure performance route, a series of performances corresponding to each development performance is executed, and at the end of the performance, it is notified that the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment in the current pattern change is not a jackpot. On the other hand, in the development performance HEA to development performance HEC corresponding to the jackpot performance route, a series of performances corresponding to each development performance is executed, similar to the development performance corresponding to the failure performance route, and at the end of the performance, it is notified that the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment in the current pattern change is a jackpot. In other words, the development performance HEA to development performance HEC can all be said to be performances that notify whether the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment in the current pattern change is a jackpot or not. In this embodiment, one performance route corresponds to one special chart variation pattern. Therefore, in the following description, the performance route for the special chart variation pattern may be simply expressed as a special chart variation pattern. However, multiple performance routes may be made to correspond to one special chart variation pattern, and in this case, one performance route may be determined from multiple performance routes corresponding to the determined special chart variation pattern.

[0113] The presentation routes corresponding to special chart fluctuation patterns HNP-A to HNP-D and special chart fluctuation patterns HRP correspond to the non-development miss presentation routes described above. Specifically, the special pattern variation patterns HNP-A to HNP-D correspond to a presentation route that notifies the user that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in the current pattern change is a miss by displaying the decorative pattern as a barrage (a state in which all pattern rows are stopped and the same decorative pattern is not stopped in each pattern row) without the decorative pattern being in a reach state. Here, the same decorative pattern refers to a decorative pattern imitating the same number, and the parts other than the numbers that make up the decorative pattern (such as a character image to be described later) may be different. Note that different decorative patterns refer to decorative patterns imitating different numbers. The special pattern change pattern HRP corresponds to a performance route in which the decorative pattern becomes a reach state without pseudo-change, and then the decorative pattern is stopped and displayed with a random pattern without executing the development performance described later, thereby notifying that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in this pattern change is a miss. Here, the pseudo-change refers to a period that is divided by the stop of the decorative pattern based on a certain rule (for example, the stop of the decorative pattern in which the 7 pattern stops in the middle pattern row, such as "5 pattern-7 pattern-6 pattern") in the period before the development performance starts (the period until the decorative pattern becomes a reach state in the pattern change in which the development performance is executed). Therefore, it can be said that the pseudo-change occurs only when the number of pseudo-changes is two. In other words, if the decorative pattern changes once until the reach state is formed, it can be said that the pseudo-change does not occur, and in that case, it can be said that one pseudo-change is executed. In this embodiment, the maximum number of pseudo fluctuations is three, but the maximum number of pseudo fluctuations is not limited to this, and any number equal to or greater than two may be used.

[0114] The special chart change patterns HSP1-A to HSP3-B correspond to the above-mentioned development miss performance route. Specifically, the special pattern change pattern HSP1-A and the special pattern change pattern HSP1-B correspond to a performance route in which the decorative pattern reaches a reach state without pseudo-change, and then a development performance is executed to notify that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in this pattern change is a miss, and the decorative pattern stops and is displayed with a spread pattern after the development performance ends. Note that the types of development performances corresponding to these special pattern change patterns are different from each other, and the above-mentioned development performance HEA corresponds to the special pattern change pattern HSP1-A, and the above-mentioned development performance HEB corresponds to the special pattern change pattern HSP1-B. The special pattern change pattern HSP2-A and the special pattern change pattern HSP2-B correspond to a performance route in which the decorative pattern reaches a reach state through two pseudo-changes, and then a development performance is performed to notify that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in this pattern change is a miss, and the decorative pattern is displayed with a scattered eye after the development performance ends. Note that, like the special pattern change pattern HSP1-A and the special pattern change pattern HSP1-B, the types of development performances corresponding to these special pattern change patterns are different from each other, and the development performance HEA corresponds to the special pattern change pattern HSP2-A, and the development performance HEB corresponds to the special pattern change pattern HSP2-B. The special pattern change pattern HSP3-A and the special pattern change pattern HSP3-B correspond to a performance route in which the decorative pattern reaches a reach state through three pseudo-changes, and then a development performance is performed to notify that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in this pattern change is a miss, and the decorative pattern is displayed with a scattered eye after the development performance ends. Note that, like the special pattern change pattern HSP1-A and the special pattern change pattern HSP1-B, the types of development performances corresponding to these special pattern change patterns are different from each other, and the development performance HEA corresponds to the special pattern change pattern HSP3-A, and the development performance HEB corresponds to the special pattern change pattern HSP3-B.

[0115] The special chart change pattern ASP1-A and the special chart change pattern ASP1-B correspond to the jackpot performance route described above. Specifically, the special pattern variation pattern ASP1-A and the special pattern variation pattern ASP1-B correspond to a performance route in which the decorative pattern reaches a reach state without pseudo-variation, and then a development performance is executed to notify that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in this pattern change is a big hit, and the decorative pattern is displayed stopped with the pattern aligned (all pattern rows are stopped, and the same decorative pattern is stopped in each pattern row) after the development performance ends. Note that the types of development performance corresponding to these special pattern variation patterns are different from each other, and the above-mentioned development performance HEA corresponds to the special pattern variation pattern ASP1-A, and the above-mentioned development performance HEB corresponds to the special pattern variation pattern ASP1-B. The special pattern variation pattern ASP2-A and the special pattern variation pattern ASP2-B correspond to a performance route in which the decorative pattern reaches a reach state through two pseudo variations, and then a development performance is performed to notify that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in this pattern change is a big hit, and after the development performance ends, the decorative pattern stops and is displayed with the pattern aligned. Note that, like the special pattern variation pattern ASP1-A and the special pattern variation pattern ASP1-B, the types of development performances corresponding to these special pattern variation patterns are different from each other, and the development performance HEA corresponds to the special pattern variation pattern ASP2-A, and the development performance HEB corresponds to the special pattern variation pattern ASP2-B. The special pattern variation pattern ASP3-A and the special pattern variation pattern ASP3-B correspond to a performance route in which the decorative pattern reaches a reach state through three pseudo variations, and then a development performance is performed to notify that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in this pattern variation is a big hit, and after the development performance ends, the decorative pattern stops and is displayed with the pattern aligned. Note that, like the special pattern variation pattern ASP1-A and the special pattern variation pattern ASP1-B, the types of development performances corresponding to these special pattern variation patterns are different from each other, and the development performance HEA corresponds to the special pattern variation pattern ASP3-A, and the development performance HEB corresponds to the special pattern variation pattern ASP3-B. The special pattern change pattern ASP3-C corresponds to a performance route in which the decorative pattern reaches a reach state through three pseudo changes, and then a development performance is executed to notify that the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment in this pattern change is a big hit, and after the development performance ends, the decorative pattern stops and is displayed in a pattern alignment. Note that the special pattern change pattern ASP3-C corresponds to a development performance HEC that is different from both the development performance HEA and the development performance HEB.

[0116] In this way, in this embodiment, by making the same development performance correspond, the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern ASP1-A corresponds to the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern HSP1-A, the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern ASP1-B corresponds to the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern HSP1-B, the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern ASP2-A corresponds to the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern ASP2-B corresponds to the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern ASP2-B, the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern ASP3-A corresponds to the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern ASP3-A, and the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern ASP3-B corresponds to the performance route corresponding to the special chart change pattern HSP3-B. As a result, the contents of the performances of the corresponding performance routes are consistent from the start to the very end (the timing when the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment is shown by the development performance related to the performance route). Therefore, in the pattern change in which the development performance HEA and the development performance HEB are executed, the player can have a sense of expectation of winning the jackpot. In addition, the above-mentioned special chart change pattern, which determines the presentation route in which the development presentation HEA and the development presentation HEB are executed, can also be said to be a special chart change pattern that anticipates a jackpot. In addition, there is no corresponding development failure performance route for the special chart variation pattern ASP3-C. Therefore, when the development performance HEC is executed in the pattern variation, the player can be made to recognize the big win definitively. Therefore, it can be said that the performance route corresponding to the special chart variation pattern is a performance route that determines the big win, and the special chart variation pattern is also said to be a special chart variation pattern that determines the big win.

[0117] When the sub-reservation control means 223 receives a reserve command (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as occurrence of a reserved winning), it sets performance data for displaying an image (hereinafter, referred to as a "reserved icon") corresponding to the reserved pattern change in the display area of ​​the main display unit 81 based on the information of the special pattern 1 reserve counter and the special pattern 2 reserve counter included in the command. Although details will be described later, the reserved icon indicates the expected probability of winning a jackpot in the corresponding pattern change (reserved pattern change) depending on the display mode of the icon, and the corresponding pattern change is the pattern change related to the special pattern 1 if the current state is the special pattern change pattern derivation state PA, and is the pattern change related to the special pattern 2 if the current state is the special pattern change pattern derivation state PB or the special pattern change pattern derivation state PC.

[0118] In addition, the sub-reservation control means 223 sets performance data for displaying an image (hereinafter referred to as a "reservation icon") corresponding to the current pattern change in the display area of ​​the main display unit 81. Although details will be described later, the reserving icon, like the reserved icon, suggests the probability of winning the jackpot in the corresponding pattern change (pattern change in progress) depending on the display mode of the icon. In particular, this embodiment is configured to be capable of executing an icon change effect that can change the display mode of a pending icon or a variable icon.

[0119] When a pre-reading performance control means 224 receives a pre-determination command, it determines the content of the pre-reading performance based on the result of the pre-determination included in the command. The pre-reading performance is a performance that suggests the expectation for the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment in the pattern change of the pre-reading target and the content of the performance to be executed in the pattern change of the pre-reading target over one or more pattern changes leading to the pattern change of the pre-reading target (in special chart change pattern derivation state PA, where the normal chart has a low probability, the pattern change related to special chart 1 is the target, and in special chart change pattern derivation state PB or special chart change pattern derivation state PC, where the normal chart has a high probability, the pattern change related to special chart 2 is the target).

[0120] When the performance content determination means 225 receives a variation start command, it determines the content of the variation performance to be executed in the current symbol variation according to the performance route already determined by the performance route determination means 222. More specifically, the performance content determination means 225 determines the content (performance pattern) of the performance for each performance execution timing in the pattern change by a lottery using a performance pattern lottery table corresponding to the performance route determined by the performance route determination means 222. In this way, it is possible to change the content of the performance related to (executed according to) the determined performance route, and to provide a connection between the performances in one pattern change. Also, even if the same performance route is determined, it is possible to diversify the performances to be executed.

[0121] When the decorative pattern control means 226 receives a variation start command, it determines the final combination of stopping patterns (left pattern, center pattern, right pattern) of the decorative patterns based on the determined stopping patterns of the special patterns. Specifically, patterns B, C, and a correspond to odd-numbered patterns, patterns A and b correspond to even-numbered patterns, and patterns D and c correspond to random patterns. In addition, when matching the combination of decorative patterns to be stopped with the stopping patterns of the special pattern, it is not necessary to have the above-mentioned correspondence. For example, if the combination of decorative patterns to be stopped does not have a high expected value compared to the above-mentioned correspondence, such as matching pattern a with an even-numbered pattern arrangement, in some cases (a lower rate than the rate at which the above-mentioned correspondence is achieved), a combination of decorative patterns that differs from the above-mentioned correspondence may be adopted, and even in such cases, it can be said that the combination of decorative patterns to be stopped corresponds to the stopping patterns of the special pattern.

[0122] When the jackpot start command is received, the jackpot effect control means 227 determines the content of the jackpot effect that notifies the player that a jackpot game is in progress based on the information included in the command, etc. The jackpot effect includes a start demo effect that notifies the player that a jackpot game is in progress, a round effect that notifies the player that a round game is in progress, and an end demo effect that notifies the player that a jackpot game is in progress.

[0123] The normal performance control means 220 reads out performance data for each device corresponding to each performance at the execution timing of that performance, in accordance with the content of the performance determined by the above-mentioned means provided in the first sub-control board 200. If the read performance data includes performance data related to images, an image control command is generated based on that performance data, and the command is stored in a transmission command storage area of ​​the sub-information storage means 260. Furthermore, if the read performance data includes performance data related to sound, an audio control command related to sound is generated based on that performance data, and the command is stored in a transmission command storage area of ​​the sub-information storage means 260.

[0124] In particular, when the restored state upon power restoration is a playable state (when RAM clear processing is involved), the normal presentation control means 220 reads presentation data for notifying the user that a playable state has been achieved with RAM clear processing, and when the restored state upon power restoration is a playable state (when RAM clear processing is not involved), the normal presentation control means 220 reads presentation data for notifying the user that a playable state has been achieved without RAM clear processing. Furthermore, when the recovery state upon power restoration is a game stop state, the normal presentation control means 220 reads out presentation data for notifying not only that the game has stopped, but also that it is necessary to execute a RAM clear process. Although details of these notifications are omitted, it is preferable that the notifications continue for a certain period of time (for example, 30 seconds) after execution has started, and the presentation device that executes the notifications does not matter.

[0125] When an error command is transmitted, the sub-error control means 230 determines an error presentation pattern, and reads out presentation data for executing an error presentation in accordance with the error presentation pattern. In addition, the error performance is executed with priority over the variable performance related to the pattern variation (the execution of the variable performance is regulated by the execution of the error performance). Here, the execution of the error performance with priority is not limited to the case where only the error performance is executed in the device related to the execution of the error performance and the device related to the execution of the variable performance are the same device, but includes the case where the error performance is executed in a manner that is easier to recognize than the variable performance in the device.

[0126] The lamp control means 240 holds lamp control data for controlling the lighting of various lamps such as the frame lamp 35. For example, if the performance data read out by the normal performance control means 220 includes performance data corresponding to the frame lamp 35, the lamp control means 240 reads out lamp control data based on the performance data and transmits the read lamp control data to the frame lamp 35.

[0127] When the performance data read out by the normal performance control means 220 contains performance data corresponding to a movable role (movable decorative body 22, sub-display unit 82), the movable role control means 245 reads movement control data for controlling the movement of the movable role from ROM 202 based on the performance data, and transmits it to the movable body to control the movement of the movable body.

[0128] As described above, the sub-information storage means 260 is a means for temporarily storing data read out by the means provided in the first sub-control board 200, data derived by calculations in the means, etc. in the corresponding storage areas.

[0129] The sub-command management means 270 receives performance control commands transmitted from the main control board 100, and stores the received performance commands in a received command storage area of ​​the sub-information storage means 260. Furthermore, if an image control command is stored in the transmission command storage area of ​​the sub-information storage means 260, the sub-command management means 270 transmits the image control command to the second sub-control board 300. Furthermore, if a voice control command is stored in the storage area, the sub-command management means 270 transmits these commands to the voice control board 310. Note that these commands are transmitted in principle in the order in which they are stored in the transmission command storage area of ​​the sub-information storage means 260.

[0130] As described above, in the gaming machine 10 according to this embodiment, the change icon corresponding to the ongoing pattern change is displayed in a manner that indicates the likelihood of winning a jackpot, which in itself increases the player's expectations (mainly for winning a jackpot) regarding the ongoing pattern change, and contributes to increasing interest in the game. However, it goes without saying that even if the symbol change with the high expectation display mode of the change icon is displayed, it does not necessarily mean that the player will win the jackpot, and there are also cases where the icon is a so-called miss. Therefore, if the occurrence of such an event continues, there is a risk that the player's desire to play will be significantly reduced. And such a problem becomes more prominent in the special symbol change pattern derivation state PA, which is a game state that is disadvantageous to the player. In contrast, in the present embodiment, in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, the variation icon is displayed in a display mode that indicates the probability of winning the jackpot, but the player's desire to play the game is not easily diminished. The details of this function will be described below.

[0131] <Display flow of variable icons and display mode of variable icons> First, with reference to Figures 11 and 12, the display flow of the variable icons in the special chart variable pattern derivation state PA and the display mode of the variable icons will be described in detail. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow from when a variable icon is consumed to when a new variable icon is supplied, and FIG. 12(a) to FIG. 12(f) are diagrams showing the types of display modes of the variable icon. In the following explanation, the pending icon and the variable icon may be collectively referred to simply as "icon."

[0132] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow from when a variable icon is consumed to when a new variable icon is supplied. Below, this flow is specifically explained in chronological order. In the leftmost scene in the upper part of Fig. 11, a certain pattern change is being performed and four pattern changes are on hold. Therefore, in this scene, the decorative pattern is displayed in a changing display area 811. In this scene, the pending icon display area 812 displays icon image ag1, icon image ag2, icon image ag3, and icon image ag4 from the left as pending icons, and the changing icon display area 813 displays icon image ag0 as a changing icon corresponding to the pattern change being performed. The second scene from the left in the upper part of Fig. 11 is the next scene after the leftmost scene in the upper part of Fig. 11, and this scene shows the state immediately before the pattern change that was being performed in the leftmost scene in the upper part of Fig. 11 is ended. Therefore, in this scene, the combination of decorative patterns (in this example, "6 pattern-5 pattern-3 pattern") is temporarily stopped and displayed in the change display area 811. And, in this scene, the reserved icon display area 812 maintains the state in which the icon image ag1, icon image ag2, icon image ag3, and icon image ag4 are displayed, as in the leftmost scene in the upper part of Fig. 11, and the change icon display area 813 maintains the state in which the icon image ag0 is displayed. The third scene from the left in the upper part of Fig. 11 is the next scene after the second scene from the left in the upper part of Fig. 11, and this scene shows the timing when the pattern change that was being performed in the leftmost scene in the upper part of Fig. 11 has ended. Therefore, in this scene, the combination of decorative patterns is displayed as fixed and stopped in the change display area 811. And, in this scene, the icon image ag1, icon image ag2, icon image ag3, and icon image ag4 are maintained in the reserved icon display area 812, while the icon image ag0 is not displayed in the change icon display area 813.

[0133] The leftmost scene in the lower part of FIG. 11 is the next scene after the third scene from the left in the upper part of FIG. 11, and in this scene, the timing when the next pattern change of the pattern change executed in the scene in the upper part of FIG. 11 is started is shown. Therefore, in this scene, the change display area 811 shows the state in which the decorative pattern is displayed in a changing manner. In this scene, the icon image ag2, the icon image ag3, and the icon image ag4 are maintained in the reserved icon display area 812 at the positions where they were displayed in the previous scene. Meanwhile, the icon image ag1 corresponding to the started pattern change is displayed between the reserved icon display area 812 and the changing icon display area 813. The second scene from the left in the lower part of FIG. 11 is the scene immediately after the leftmost scene in the lower part of FIG. 11. Therefore, in this scene, the decorative pattern is displayed in a variable display area 811. In this scene, the icon image ag2, the icon image ag3, and the icon image ag4 are still displayed in the reserved icon display area 812 at the positions where they were displayed in the previous scene. Meanwhile, the icon image ag1 corresponding to the started pattern change is displayed in the variable icon display area 813. The third scene from the left in the lower part of FIG. 11 is the scene immediately after the second scene from the left in the lower part of FIG. 11. Therefore, in this scene, the decorative pattern is displayed in a variable display area 811. In this scene, the icon image ag2, the icon image ag3, and the icon image ag4 are still displayed in the reserved icon display area 812, but the icon image ag2 has moved to the position where the icon image ag1 was displayed in the scene in the upper part of FIG. 11, the icon image ag3 has moved to the position where the icon image ag2 was displayed in the scene, and the icon image ag4 has moved to the position where the icon image ag3 was displayed in the pattern change in the scene. The icon image ag1 is displayed in the variable icon display area 813.

[0134] Thus, in this embodiment, in the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PA, an icon image corresponding to the reserved icon is displayed in the reserved icon display area 812 located below the variation display area 811 in which the decorative pattern of the display area related to the main display unit 81 is displayed, and an icon image corresponding to the variable icon is displayed in the variable icon display area 813 located to the left of the variable display area 811. The icon image corresponding to the reserved icon displayed in the reserved icon display area 812 moves toward the variable icon display area 813 each time a pattern variation preceding the pattern variation corresponding to itself is executed, and the icon image moves from the reserved icon display area 812 toward the variable icon display area 813 when the pattern variation corresponding to itself is executed, and becomes an icon image corresponding to the variable icon. In addition, when a game ball enters the starting hole in a state in which a reserved icon is not displayed in the reserved icon display area 812, the reserved icon is displayed once in the reserved icon display area 812, and then the reserved icon immediately moves toward the variable icon display area 813, and the reserved icon after the movement is treated as a variable icon.

[0135] 11, in this embodiment, the center of the icon image displayed in the variable icon display area 813 is not on the extension of the line connecting the centers of the icon images displayed in the reserved icon display area 812 (the imaginary line shown in the rightmost scene in the lower part of FIG. 11). Therefore, even if the display mode of the icon image displayed in the reserved icon display area 812 and the display mode displayed in the variable icon display area 813 are the same, the player can distinguish whether the icon image corresponds to the reserved icon or the variable icon.

[0136] Next, as shown in FIG. 12(a) to FIG. 12(f), in this embodiment, the display mode of the variable icon in the special chart variable pattern derivation state PA has a total of six types of stages in which the shapes are the same but the colors are different from each other. Specifically, there are a white (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "default color") variable icon shown in FIG. 12(a), a blue variable icon shown in FIG. 12(b), a green variable icon shown in FIG. 12(c), a red variable icon shown in FIG. 12(d), a gold variable icon shown in FIG. 12(e), and a rainbow variable icon shown in FIG. 12(f). The details will be described later, but the expected probability of winning the jackpot in the corresponding pattern variation increases according to the order. The display modes of these are also the same for the reserved icons. In addition, each variable icon includes the characters "white", "blue", "green", "red", "gold", or "rainbow", but these are characters written for the convenience of explanation and do not actually exist.

[0137] <About icon change control> Next, with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the icon change control process for controlling the change in the display mode (color) of the icon in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA will be described in detail. Figure 13 shows a flow of the icon change control process, which is executed by the sub-hold control means 223, and is executed when a hold command is received if a pattern change is in progress, and is executed when a change start command is received if a pattern change is not in progress. FIG. 14(a) is a schematic diagram showing a lottery table for selecting the color of an icon, and FIG. 14(b) is a schematic diagram showing a lottery table for selecting the timing of changing the color. The random numbers used in these lotteries range from 0 to 99.

[0138] As shown in FIG. 13, in step S102, which is the first step of the icon change control process, the color of the icon is selected by lottery. Specifically, as shown in Figure 14(a), if the result of the pre-determination or special pattern hit / miss determination for the target pattern change (pattern change corresponding to the command that triggered the execution of the performance management process at the start of this change) is a miss and a special pattern change pattern in which an advanced performance is not executed is determined, then white will be determined with a probability of 95 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.05) and blue with a probability of 5 / 100 (1 / 20), and in this case, none of green, red, gold, or rainbow will be determined. If the result of the pre-judgment or special pattern hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss and a special pattern change pattern in which an advanced performance is executed is determined, then there is a 15 / 100 (approximately 1 / 6.67) probability that white will be determined, a 35 / 100 (approximately 1 / 2.86) probability that blue will be determined, a 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33) probability that green will be determined, a 15 / 100 (approximately 1 / 6.67) probability that red will be determined, and a 5 / 100 (1 / 20) probability that gold will be determined, and in this case rainbow colors will not be determined. If the result of the advance judgment or special pattern hit judgment regarding the target pattern change is a jackpot, there is a 5 / 100 (1 / 20) probability that white will be determined, a 15 / 100 (approximately 1 / 6.67) probability that blue will be determined, a 40 / 100 (1 / 2.5) probability that green will be determined, a 25 / 100 (1 / 4) probability that red will be determined, a 10 / 100 (1 / 10) probability that gold will be determined, and a 5 / 100 (1 / 20) probability that rainbow will be determined. In this manner, in this embodiment, the colors of the variable icons changed by the icon change presentation are white, blue, green, red, gold, and rainbow in order of increasing likelihood of winning a jackpot. In particular, since rainbow colors are not determined when the result of the advance judgment regarding the target pattern change or the special pattern hit / miss judgment is a miss, it can be said that rainbow colors are colors that will definitely lead to a jackpot. Furthermore, as mentioned above, if the result of the advance judgment or special pattern hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss and a special pattern change pattern in which an advanced performance is not executed is determined, white or blue is determined, but other colors are not determined, so it can be said that colors with an expected probability of winning a jackpot equal to or higher than green (green, red, gold, rainbow) are confirmed to result in the advanced performance being executed.

[0139] In step S104, it is determined whether a color other than the default color (white) has been determined as the color of the icon. If the condition is met, the process proceeds to step S106; if the condition is not met, the icon change control process is terminated.

[0140] In step S106, the timing of the color change is determined by lottery. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14(b), when the result of the pre-judgment or the special pattern hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss and a special pattern change pattern in which the development performance is not executed is determined, the reserved icon is displayed with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and the changing icon is displayed with a probability of 70 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.43). Here, the reserved icon is displayed refers to the icon (reserved icon) corresponding to the target pattern change changing to a determined color (displayed in a determined color) at the time when the target pattern change is reserved. On the other hand, the changing icon is displayed refers to the icon (changing icon) corresponding to the target pattern change changing to a determined color at the time when the target pattern change is executed (the start time of the pattern change). If the result of the pre-judgment or special pattern hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss and a special pattern change pattern in which a development performance is executed is determined, there is a 40 / 100 (1 / 2.5) probability that the reserved icon will be displayed, and a 60 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.67) probability that the changing icon will be displayed. If the result of the advance judgment or special pattern hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a jackpot, there is a 70 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.43) probability that the reserved icon will be displayed, and a 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33) probability that the changing icon will be displayed. In this embodiment, when the result of the preliminary judgment or the special pattern hit / miss judgment of the target pattern change is a big hit, the reserved icon display is determined as the color change timing at a higher rate than when the result of the preliminary judgment or the special pattern hit / miss judgment of the target pattern change is a miss. And, as described above, the color of the variable icon changed by the icon change performance has a higher probability of winning a big hit in the order of white, blue, green, red, gold, and rainbow. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the timing for changing the color is determined to be when the pending icon is being displayed, it can be said that the changing icon is more likely to take on a color that has a higher expectation of winning a jackpot than when the timing for changing the color is determined to be when the variable icon is being displayed.

[0141] In step S108, effect data relating to the icon change effect is set at the determined icon color change timing, and then the icon change control process ends. As a result, the icon change effect is executed at the determined icon color change timing. Although the icon change effect is not shown in the figures, in this embodiment, an animation corresponding to the determined color is used (via a moving image) to change the color of the target icon to a color with a higher expectation of winning a jackpot, and sound corresponding to the animation is output.

[0142] <Icon termination control management process> Next, using Figures 15 to 17, the icon end control management process that manages the execution timing (start timing) of the icon end control that ends the display of the icon when the pattern change in the special pattern change pattern derivation state PA ends will be described in detail. FIG. 15 is a flow chart of the icon end control management process, which is executed when a variation start command is received. Fig. 16 is a diagram showing a selection table TaA used in the selection of the execution timing of the icon end control. Fig. 17(a) is a diagram showing a selection table TaB1 used in the selection of the execution timing of the icon end control, and Fig. 17(b) is a diagram showing a selection table TaB2 used in the selection of the execution timing of the icon end control. The random numbers used in these selections range from 0 to 99.

[0143] As shown in FIG. 15, in step S202, which is the first step of the icon end control management process, it is determined whether the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment for the target pattern change (pattern change corresponding to the change start command that triggered the execution of this icon end control management process) is a miss or not, and if the condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S204, and if the condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S206.

[0144] In step S204, the execution timing of the icon end control is determined by lottery using the lottery table TaA. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 16, when the color of the icon is white (default color), timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon termination control with a probability of 85 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.18), timing T2 with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10), and timing T3 with a probability of 5 / 100 (1 / 20). Here, in this embodiment, timing T1 is 300 ms before the timing when the pattern variation ends (the timing when the first special pattern display device 91, which is being displayed in a varying manner, stops being displayed). Similarly, timing T2 is 1000 ms before the timing when the pattern variation ends, and timing T3 is 2000 ms before the timing when the pattern variation ends. The flow of icon display when the icon ending control is executed at these timings will be described later.

[0145] When the color of the icon is blue, timing T1 is determined as the timing for executing the icon termination control with a probability of 80 / 100 (1 / 1.25), timing T2 with a probability of 15 / 100 (approximately 1 / 6.67), and timing T3 with a probability of 5 / 100 (1 / 20). When the color of the icon is green, timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon termination control with a probability of 60 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.67), timing T2 with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and timing T3 with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10). When the color of the icon is red, the timing T2 is determined as the timing for executing the icon end control with a probability of 40 / 100 (1 / 2.5), and the timing T3 is determined with a probability of 60 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.67), and in this case the timing T1 is not determined. If the color of the icon is gold, timing T2 is determined as the timing for executing the icon termination control with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and timing T3 is determined with a probability of 70 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.43), and in this case timing T1 is not determined.

[0146] Thus, in this embodiment, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is a miss, if the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, red), the timing T3 is determined as the execution timing of the icon end control at a higher rate than when the color of the icon has a low expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, blue). In particular, in this embodiment, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is a miss, if the color of the icon has a medium expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, green), the rate at which the timing T3 is determined as the execution timing of the icon end control is higher than the rate at which the timing T3 is determined as the execution timing of the icon end control when the color of the icon has a low expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, blue), and is lower than the rate at which the timing T3 is determined as the execution timing of the icon end control when the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, red). In addition, in this embodiment, if the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss, and the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, red), timing T1 is not determined as the timing to execute the icon end control. As mentioned above, since the lottery table TaA is used to determine the timing of execution of the icon end control when the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is a miss, the lottery table does not contain any lottery values ​​related to rainbow colors, which are colors that can only be determined when a jackpot is derived.

[0147] In step S206, the execution timing of the icon end control is determined by lottery using the lottery table TaB. Specifically, as shown in Figures 17(a) and 17(b), lottery table TaB includes lottery table TaB1 which is used when a jackpot related to pattern A is derived in the target pattern change, and lottery table TaB2 which is used when a jackpot related to pattern B or pattern C (a jackpot with a higher degree of advantage than a jackpot related to pattern A) is derived in the target pattern change. In the lottery using the lottery table TaB1, as shown in FIG. 17(a), when the color of the icon is white (default color), timing T1 is determined as the execution timing of the icon end control with a probability of 85 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.18), timing T2 with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10), and timing T3 with a probability of 5 / 100 (1 / 20). When the color of the icon is blue, timing T1 is determined with a probability of 80 / 100 (1 / 1.25), and timing T4 with a probability of 15 / 100 (approximately 1 / 6.67). When the icon is green, timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control with a probability of 60 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.67), timing T2 with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and timing T3 with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10), and all of these probabilities are the same as in the lottery using the lottery table TaA. On the other hand, when the color of the icon is red, timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon termination control with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10), timing T2 with a probability of 40 / 100 (1 / 2.5), and timing T3 with a probability of 50 / 100 (1 / 2). When the color of the icon is gold, timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon termination control with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10), timing T2 with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and timing T3 with a probability of 60 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.67). When the icon is rainbow-colored, timing T1 is determined as the timing for executing the icon termination control with a probability of 15 / 100 (approximately 1 / 6.67), timing T2 with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and timing T3 with a probability of 55 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.82).

[0148] In the lottery using the lottery table TaB2, as shown in FIG. 17(b), when the color of the icon is white (default color), timing T1 is determined as the execution timing of the icon termination control with a probability of 85 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.18), timing T2 is determined as the execution timing of the icon termination control with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10), and timing T3 is determined as the execution timing of the icon termination control with a probability of 5 / 100 (1 / 20). When the color of the icon is blue, timing T1 is determined as the execution timing of the icon termination control with a probability of 80 / 100 (1 / 1.25), and timing T4 is determined as the execution timing of the icon termination control with a probability of 15 / 100 (approximately 1 / 6.67). If the icon is green, timing T2 is determined as the timing for executing the icon end control with a probability of 5 / 100 (1 / 20), and timing T3 is determined as the timing for executing the icon end control with a probability of 60 / 100 (approximately 1 / 1.67), timing T2 with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and timing T3 with a probability of 10 / 100 (1 / 10), all of which are the same as those of a lottery using lottery table TaA or lottery table TaB1. On the other hand, when the color of the icon is red, timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon termination control with a probability of 20 / 100 (1 / 5), timing T2 with a probability of 40 / 100 (1 / 2.5), and timing T3 with a probability of 40 / 100 (1 / 2.5). When the color of the icon is gold, timing T1 is determined as the execution timing of the icon termination control with a probability of 20 / 100 (1 / 5), timing T2 with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and timing T3 with a probability of 50 / 100 (1 / 2). When the color of the icon is rainbow-colored, timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon termination control with a probability of 25 / 100 (1 / 4), timing T2 with a probability of 30 / 100 (approximately 1 / 3.33), and timing T3 with a probability of 45 / 100 (approximately 1 / 2.22).

[0149] In this manner, in this embodiment, when the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a jackpot, if the color of the icon has a high probability of winning a jackpot (e.g., red), timing T3 is determined as the timing for executing the icon end control at a higher rate than when the color of the icon has a low probability of winning a jackpot (e.g., blue), just as when the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a jackpot, if the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, red), timing T1 can be determined as the timing for executing the icon end control, unlike when the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss.

[0150] In particular, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment for the target pattern change is a big hit and the color of the icon is one with a high expectation of winning a big hit (for example, red), the probability that timing T2 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control is constant regardless of the type of pattern related to the big hit (the advantage of the big hit). In addition, in this case, when the big hit is related to pattern B or pattern C, which are more advantageous than pattern A, timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control at a higher rate than when the big hit is related to pattern A (in this case, when the big hit is pattern A, timing T3 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control at a higher rate than when the big hit is related to pattern B or pattern C). In other words, in this embodiment, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is a jackpot and the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a jackpot, the percentage of the jackpot related to pattern B or pattern C when timing T1 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control will be higher than the percentage of the jackpot related to pattern B or pattern C when timing T3 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control.

[0151] Next, in step S208, the determined execution timing is set as the execution timing of the icon termination control, and then the icon termination control management process is terminated. As a result, the icon termination control is executed (started) at the set timing.

[0152] <About icon exit control> Next, the flow of display related to the variable icon when the icon ending control is executed will be described in detail with reference to Figs. FIG. 18 is a timing chart showing the flow of display related to the variable icon when the icon ending control is executed at timing T1. FIG. 19 is a timing chart showing the flow of display related to the variable icon when the icon ending control is executed at timing T2. FIG. 20 is a timing chart showing the flow of display related to the variable icon when the icon ending control is executed at timing T3.

[0153] As shown in Fig. 18, when the icon end control is executed at the timing T1 for a variable icon whose color has changed (a color other than the default color), the variable icon is hidden from the timing 300 ms before the timing of the end of the pattern change (the timing when the first special pattern display device 91 whose color is being displayed stops being displayed). This is the same flow when the icon end control is executed at the timing T1 for a variable icon whose color has not changed (a default color).

[0154] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 19, when icon end control is executed at timing T2 for a changing icon whose color has changed, the changing icon changes to the default color from a timing 1000 ms before the timing when the pattern change ends, and the changing icon becomes hidden from a timing 300 ms before the reference timing. Similarly, as shown in Figure 20, when icon end control is executed at timing T3 for a changing icon whose color has changed, the changing icon changes to the default color from a timing 2000 ms before the timing when the pattern change ends, and the changing icon becomes hidden from a timing 300 ms before the timing of the reference. In addition, when the icon end control is executed at the timing T2 for a variable icon whose color has not changed (default color), the display mode of the variable icon does not change at that timing. This is also the case when the icon end control is executed at the timing T3 for a variable icon whose color has not changed. As described above, the icon change effect in this embodiment is an effect in which the color of the target icon is changed to a color with a higher expectation of winning a jackpot by an animation corresponding to the determined color, and a sound corresponding to the animation is output. However, when the color of the icon is changed to a default color by the icon end control, the flow is different. Specifically, when the color of the icon is changed to a default color by the icon end control, the animation is not executed (instantly without moving images), and the sound corresponding to the change is not output. This is to prevent the player from having a sense of expectation due to the execution of the icon end control.

[0155] Thus, in this embodiment, there are icon termination controls that hide the variable icon whose color has changed (icon termination control relating to timing T1), and icon termination controls that hide the variable icon whose color has changed after changing it to the default color (icon termination control relating to timing T2 or timing T3). As described above, in this embodiment, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss, if the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a jackpot (e.g., red), timing T3 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control with a higher probability than if the color of the icon has a low expectation of winning a jackpot (e.g., blue). According to this, the expectation for winning the jackpot can be increased by the color of the variable icon, while the disappointment felt when the jackpot is not won can be reduced when the variable icon has a color that indicates a high expectation of winning the jackpot. In order to achieve this effect, the color of the variable icon changed by the icon end control with the execution timing of T3 is not limited to the default color, as long as it is a color that relatively reduces the probability of winning a jackpot. Also, the icon end control with the execution timing of T3 may be configured to hide the variable icon whose color has changed without changing the variable icon to the default color, and the icon end control with the execution timing of T1 may be configured to hide the variable icon after changing it to the default color. These are the same in the following explanations.

[0156] Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, the presentation control means (first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300) is capable of executing an icon change presentation that can change the variable icon to a display mode (color) with a higher expectation of winning a bonus (jackpot), and is capable of executing icon end control that hides the variable icon when the pattern change ends, or changes the display mode of the variable icon to a display mode (default color) with a lower expectation of winning a bonus and then hides the variable icon, and the display modes of the variable icon include a first display mode (blue) and a second display mode (blue) with a higher expectation of winning a bonus than the first display mode. and a second display mode (red) which has a high expectation, and the timing for executing the icon end control includes a first timing (timing T1) and a second timing (timing T3) which comes earlier than the first timing. In other words, when, in a pattern change which does not win a bonus, the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to that pattern change is executed is the second display mode, the icon end control is executed at the second timing at a higher rate than when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to that pattern change is executed is the first display mode.

[0157] In particular, as described above, in this embodiment, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is a miss, the percentage of times that timing T3 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control when the icon color has a medium expectation of winning a jackpot (e.g., green) is higher than the percentage of times that timing T3 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control when the icon color has a low expectation of winning a jackpot (e.g., blue), and is lower than the percentage of times that timing T3 is determined as the timing to execute the icon end control when the icon color has a high expectation of winning a jackpot (e.g., red). This makes it possible to reduce the sense of disappointment felt when a player does not win a jackpot using a variable icon of a color that indicates a high probability of winning the jackpot, while also making it difficult for the player to feel uncomfortable.

[0158] Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, the display mode (color) of the variable icon that changes by executing the icon change performance further includes a third display mode (green) which has a higher expectation of winning a bonus (jackpot) than the first display mode (blue) and a lower expectation of winning a bonus than the second display mode (red). In other words, in a pattern change that does not win a bonus, when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed becomes the third display mode, the icon end control is executed at the second timing at a higher rate than when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed becomes the first display mode, and in a pattern change that does not win a bonus, when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed becomes the third display mode, the icon end control is executed at the second timing at a lower rate than when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed becomes the second display mode.

[0159] Furthermore, as described above, in this embodiment, when the timing for the color change is determined to be when the pending icon is being displayed, it is more likely to change to a color with a higher expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, red) than when the timing for the color change is determined to be when the variable icon is being displayed. According to this, when a player does not win a jackpot with a changing icon of a color with a high expectation of winning a jackpot, the player's excitement can be calmed down before the pattern change corresponding to the changing icon ends, thereby reducing the disappointment caused by the occurrence of the event.

[0160] Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, the icon change effect is an effect that can change, in addition to the changing icon, the reserved icon corresponding to the pending pattern change to a display mode (color) that has a higher expectation of winning a bonus (jackpot), and in other words, when the icon change effect is executed on the reserved icon (including the case where the icon change effect is executed on both the reserved icon and the changing icon displayed when the pattern change corresponding to the reserved icon is executed, as will be described later), the display mode of the changing icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon is more likely to be the second display mode (red) than when the icon change effect is not executed on the reserved icon.

[0161] Furthermore, as described above, in this embodiment, when the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a jackpot, if the color of the icon has a high probability of winning a jackpot (e.g., red), timing T3 is determined as the timing for executing the icon end control at a higher rate than when the color of the icon has a low probability of winning a jackpot (e.g., blue), just as when the result of the special chart hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss. This makes it possible to prevent the player from feeling uncomfortable throughout the game (not only when the result of the special symbol hit / miss judgment regarding the target symbol change is a miss, but also when the result of the special symbol hit / miss judgment regarding the target symbol change is a jackpot).

[0162] Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, even in the case of a pattern change that wins a special prize (jackpot), when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed becomes the second display mode (red), it can be said that the icon end control is executed at the second timing (timing T3) at a higher rate than when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed becomes the first display mode (blue).

[0163] Also, as described above, in this embodiment, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is a big hit and the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a big hit (for example, red), timing T1 can be determined as the execution timing of the icon end control. In addition, in this embodiment, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is a big hit and the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a big hit, if timing T1 is determined as the execution timing of the icon end control, the percentage of the big hit related to the pattern B or pattern C (a stopping pattern more advantageous than pattern A) is higher than the percentage of the big hit related to the pattern B or pattern C when timing T3 is determined as the execution timing of the icon end control. This increases the player's attention to the timing when the icon end control is executed, making it easier for the player to recognize the display content in the variable icon display area 813 after the icon end control is executed. In order to achieve this effect, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is a jackpot and the color of the icon has a high expectation of a jackpot, the percentage of jackpots related to patterns B and C when timing T1 is determined as the timing for executing the icon end control may be lower than the percentage of jackpots related to patterns B and C when timing T3 is determined as the timing for executing the icon end control.

[0164] Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, the bonuses (jackpots) include a first bonus (jackpot related to pattern A) and a second bonus (jackpot related to pattern B or pattern C) that is more advantageous than the first bonus, and in the pattern change that wins the bonus, when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed becomes the second display mode (red), the icon end control can be executed at a first timing (timing T1), and when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change that wins the bonus becomes the second display mode, the rate at which the bonus becomes the second bonus when the icon end control is executed at the first timing is different from the rate at which the bonus becomes the second bonus when the icon end control is executed at the second timing (timing T3).

[0165] In particular, in this embodiment, as described above, when the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment regarding the target pattern change is a miss, if the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a jackpot (for example, red), timing T1 is not determined as the timing to execute the icon end control. According to this, when the color of the icon has a high expectation of winning a jackpot and timing T1 is determined as the timing for executing the icon end control, the result of the special pattern hit / miss judgment related to the target pattern change is definitively a jackpot, thereby enhancing the effect of reducing disappointment when a jackpot is not won with a changing icon of a color with a high expectation of winning a jackpot.

[0166] Therefore, in the case of a pattern change that does not win a special bonus (jackpot), when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to that pattern change is executed becomes the second display mode (red), the icon end control is not executed at the first timing (timing T1) but may be executed at the second timing (timing T3).In other words, when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change that wins a special bonus is executed becomes the second display mode, the percentage of the special bonus that becomes the second bonus when the icon end control is executed at the first timing is higher than the percentage of the special bonus that becomes the second bonus when the icon end control is executed at the second timing.

[0167] Also, as shown in FIG. 19, in this embodiment, the icon end control may be executed at timing T2, which is between timing T1 and timing T3. According to this, in a gaming machine that can execute icon end control at timing T1 and timing T3, the gap between the execution timing of these icon end controls is less noticeable, and the player is less likely to feel uncomfortable. In order to achieve this effect, the icon end control related to timing T2 may be to hide the variable icon, but it is preferable that, as in this embodiment, the icon end control related to timing T2 be to change the color of the variable icon to a default color.

[0168] <Display control of variable icons when game is stopped> Next, with reference to FIG. 21, the display control of the variable icon when the game stop state is set will be described in detail. Fig. 21(a) is a diagram showing a specific example of the display control of the variable icon when the game stop state is set. Fig. 21(b) is a diagram showing a specific example of the display control of the variable icon when the icon end control is executed. Note that in these specific examples, the display contents of the display area other than the reserved icon display area 812 and the variable icon display area 813 are omitted.

[0169] As shown in Fig. 21(a), in this embodiment, when the color of the variable icon (icon image ag0) is changed (in this example, red), if the game stop state is set, the variable icon is hidden. This is regardless of the display mode of the variable icon. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 21(b), when the icon ending control is executed in the case where the color of the variable icon is changed, the display mode of the variable icon may change to the default color (color change related to the icon image ag0). This is as described above.

[0170] This makes it possible to avoid giving the player a sense of disappointment due to the game being stopped while the color-changed variable icon is being displayed, while also making it easier for the player to recognize that the disappearance of the variable icon is not due to icon end control. In order to achieve this effect, the icon termination control with the execution timing T1 may be configured to hide the variable icon after changing it to a default color. As described above, in the present embodiment, the game stop state is set due to the occurrence of an error state with a high degree of importance, but this is not limited thereto. That is, the cause of the game stop state is not important.

[0171] Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, the icon end control is a control that changes the display mode of the variable icon to a display mode (default color) with a low expectation of winning a bonus (jackpot), and in other words, the game is stopped based on the satisfaction of a specified condition, and when a specified condition is satisfied during the execution of a pattern change (when an error state of high importance is set), the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is hidden regardless of the display mode of the variable icon.

[0172] As shown in FIG. 21(a), in this embodiment, when a game stop state is set, the pending icon is also hidden, similar to the variable icon. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 21(b), when icon termination control is executed, the display of the hold icon is maintained.

[0173] <Other variations, etc.> Modifications not described above and supplementary features to the above-mentioned functions are listed below.

[0174] First, in this embodiment, the timing of executing the icon change effect (the timing of changing the color of the icon) is the timing when the target pattern change is put on hold or the timing when the target pattern is executed, but is not limited to this. In other words, the former timing may be any timing within the period during which the target pattern change is on hold, and the latter timing may be any timing within the period during which the target pattern change is being executed up to the point just before the icon end control is initiated.

[0175] In addition, the icon change performance may be executed at multiple times during the period in which the target pattern change is on hold, or the icon change performance may be configured to be executed at multiple times during the period in which the target pattern change is being executed up to just before the icon end control is started. Furthermore, for a pattern change of a single target, the icon change effect may be executed both during the period in which the pattern change of the target is on hold, and during the period in which the pattern change of the target is being executed up until just before the icon end control is started. In either case, the color determined by the lottery regarding the color of the icon described above is set as the goal, and the color of the icon may be changed in stages so that the expectation of the color increases. Furthermore, it is not necessary for the color of the icon to change whenever an icon change effect is executed, and the color of the icon may change as part of the execution of the icon change effect.

[0176] In addition, in this embodiment, as long as the positional relationship of each timing is guaranteed, which are timings T1, T2, and T3 at which the icon end control is executed, the time until the timing at which the pattern change ends arrives and the trigger for each timing are also not important. In particular, the timing T1 may coincide with the timing at which the symbol variation in which the icon end control is executed ends (the timing at which the first special symbol display device 91, which is being displayed in a varying manner, stops being displayed).

[0177] In addition, in the present embodiment, the probability, ratio, frequency, and expectation level may have a lower value of zero as long as the respective relationships are guaranteed. Furthermore, the higher value may be the maximum value, and in such a case, the lottery may not be held at all. In addition, with regard to the present invention, in the parts that describe the ratio, frequency, and high / low expectation level without specifying the lottery content, as long as these relationships (high / low values) are guaranteed in the phenomenal aspect, the control content (lottery content, etc.) for realizing the phenomenal aspect is not important. Furthermore, each lottery value in the lottery table illustrated in this embodiment is just an example, and as long as the magnitude relationship between the lottery tables is maintained, each lottery value may adopt any value within the range.

[0178] Furthermore, when the display mode of the variable icon has changed from the default display mode (white in this embodiment), i.e., is a display mode different from the default display mode (other than white in this embodiment), if a power outage and restoration occurs without executing a RAM clear process, the display of the variable icon itself will not be restored. On the other hand, when a power outage occurs without the execution of a RAM clear process while a reserved icon in a display mode different from the default display mode is displayed, the display mode of the reserved icon is restored to the default display mode in at least some of the cases. Note that, if the display mode of the reserved icon is restored to the default display mode in some of the cases, the display of the reserved icon itself may not be restored in other cases.

[0179] In the above explanation, the recovery state at the time of power recovery is determined by referring to the state of the RAM clear switch 43 at the time of power recovery, but it may be possible to refer to whether the time that the RAM clear switch 43 is in the ON state after power recovery exceeds a specified time (e.g., 3 seconds). In this way, the occurrence of erroneous RAM clear processing can be further suppressed.

[0180] In the above description, the state of the middle frame open door sensor 76 (open / closed state of the middle frame 17) was referenced when determining the return state when power was restored, but the return state may be set without reference to that state. In this case, the return state when power was restored may be set uniformly according to the case where the middle frame open door sensor 76 is ON (the middle frame 17 is open).

[0181] The present invention described above is not limited to the above description, and includes various modifications and improvements as long as the object of the present invention is achieved.

[0182] <Additional Notes> The present embodiment encompasses the following technical idea. (1) A gaming machine capable of executing a win / lose judgment for judging whether or not a special offer will be won in association with the start of a pattern change, suspending the start of the pattern change until a change start condition is satisfied, and displaying a change icon which corresponds to the pattern change being executed and indicates the probability of winning the special offer in the corresponding pattern change by a display mode, The means of production, A performance control means for controlling the performance means; Equipped with The performance control means includes: It is possible to execute an icon change performance that can change the variable icon to a display mode with a high winning expectation of the benefit, When the pattern variation ends, the variable icon is hidden, or the display mode of the variable icon is changed to a display mode with a low winning expectation of the benefit, and then the variable icon is hidden. The display mode of the variable icon includes a first display mode and a second display mode in which the winning expectation of the benefit is higher than that of the first display mode. The execution timing of the icon end control includes a first timing and a second timing that is earlier than the first timing, In the case of a pattern change that does not win the special prize, when the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change immediately before the icon end control is executed is the second display mode, the icon end control is executed at the second timing at a higher rate than when the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change immediately before the icon end control is executed is the first display mode; The icon change effect is an effect that can change the pending icon corresponding to the pending pattern change in addition to the variable icon to a display mode with a high expectation of winning the benefit, When the icon change performance is executed on the reserved icon, the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon is more likely to be the second display mode than when the icon change performance is not executed on the reserved icon. A gaming machine characterized by: [Explanation of symbols]

[0183] 10 Gaming machines 15 Outer Frame 17 Middle Frame 20 Front frame 21 Hinge mechanism 22 Movable Decorations 23 Cylinder lock 25 Transparent materials 27 Upper ball tray 29 Lower ball tray 31 Operating handle 32 Upper frame part 33(33a, 33b) Speaker 34a, 34b Left and right side frame parts 35(35a, 35b, 35c) Frame Lamp 36 Ball removal mechanism 37 Production button 38 Cursor Button 38a Up cursor button 38b Down cursor button 38c Left cursor button 38d Right cursor button 38e Middle cursor button 39 Main operation section 39a Ball loan button 39b Return button 40 Power Switch 43 RAM clear switch 46 Game Ball Tank 47 Tank Rail 48 Dispatch Unit 49 Dispatch Passage 50 Game Board 50a Gaming area 51 Outer rail 52 Windmill 53 Inner rail 54 Protective materials 55 Grand Prize Winner 57 First starting point 59 Second starting point 61 Normal Electric Devices 62 Normal electric accessory solenoid Gate 63 65 Special Electric Device 66 Special electric device solenoid 67 General Prize Winners 69 Outlet 70 First starting sensor 71 Second starting port sensor 72 Large prize entrance sensor 73 General prize entry sensor 74 Gate Sensor 75 Out ball sensor 76 Middle frame door open sensor 77 Front frame door open sensor 80 Performance display device 81 Main display 82 Sub display 82a Upper sub display 82b Left sub display 82c Right sub display 90 Pattern display device 91 First special pattern display device 92 Second special pattern display device 93 Ordinary pattern display device 94 1st special pattern reserved lamp 95 2nd Special Design Hold Lamp 96 Normal pattern hold lamp 100 Main control board 101 CPU 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 I / O ports 105 Random Number Circuit 109 Main control board case 110 Ball entrance determination method 115 Main random number generator 120 Main Hold Control Means 125 Preliminary Judgment Measures 130 Special drawing lottery method 131 Means of determining whether or not a special drawing is correct 132 Special stop pattern lottery means 133 Means for deriving special chart variation patterns 135 General drawing method 140 Jackpot game control means 145 Pattern display control means 150 Electrical equipment control means 155 Game status control means 160 Main information storage means 165 Main Error Control Measures 170 Main Command Management Method 175 Power restoration processing execution means 176 Return state setting means 179 Means for transitioning to playable state 180 Power cut processing execution means 200 1st sub-control board 201 CPU 202 ROM 203 RAM 204 I / O ports 209 1st sub-control board case 210 Sub-random number generator 220 Normal Production Control Means 221 Presentation mode control means 222 Means of determining the direction route 223 Sub-hold control means 224 Predictive performance control means 225 Means for determining production content 226 Decorative pattern control means 227 Jackpot performance control means 230 Sub-error Control Measures 240 Lamp control means 245 Movable object control means 260 Sub-information storage means 270 Subcommand Management Method 300 Second sub-control board 309 Second sub-control board case 310 Voice control board 311 CPU 312 ROM 313 RAM 314 I / O ports 400 Dispatch control board 409 Dispensing control board case 500 Power supply control board 501 Normal power circuit 502 Backup power circuit 503 Power interruption detection circuit 509 Power supply control board case 811 Variable Display Area 812 Hold icon display area 813 Variable Icon Display Area ag0 icon image ag1 icon image ag2 icon image ag3 icon image ag4 icon image X First flow path Y Second flow path

Claims

1. A gaming machine capable of executing a win / lose judgment for judging whether or not a special offer will be won in association with the start of a pattern change, suspending the start of the pattern change until a change start condition is satisfied, and displaying a change icon which corresponds to the pattern change being executed and indicates the probability of winning the special offer in the corresponding pattern change by a display mode, The means of production, A performance control means for controlling the performance means; Equipped with The performance control means includes: It is possible to execute an icon change performance that can change the variable icon to a display mode with a high winning expectation of the benefit, When the pattern variation ends, the variable icon is hidden, or the display mode of the variable icon is changed to a display mode with a low expectation of winning the benefit, and the variable icon is hidden at the end of the pattern variation. The display mode of the variable icon includes a first display mode and a second display mode in which the winning expectation of the benefit is higher than that of the first display mode. The execution timing of the icon end control includes a first timing and a second timing that is earlier than the first timing, In the case of a pattern change that does not win the special prize, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second timing, the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the second display mode is higher than the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the first display mode, The icon change effect may be executed on the reserved icon corresponding to the reserved pattern change, When the icon change performance is executed on the reserved icon, the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon is more likely to be the second display mode than when the icon change performance is not executed on the reserved icon, The display mode of the variable icon that changes by executing the icon change performance further includes a third display mode in which the winning expectation of the bonus is higher than that of the first display mode and the winning expectation of the bonus is lower than that of the second display mode, In a pattern change that does not win the special prize, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second timing, the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the third display mode is higher than the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the first display mode, In a pattern change that does not win the special prize, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second timing, the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the third display mode is lower than the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the second display mode. A gaming machine characterized by:

2. A gaming machine capable of executing a win / lose judgment for judging whether or not a special offer will be won in association with the start of a pattern change, suspending the start of the pattern change until a change start condition is satisfied, and displaying a change icon which corresponds to the pattern change being executed and indicates the probability of winning the special offer in the corresponding pattern change by a display mode, The means of production, A performance control means for controlling the performance means; Equipped with The performance control means includes: It is possible to execute an icon change performance that can change the variable icon to a display mode with a high winning expectation of the benefit, When the pattern variation ends, the variable icon is hidden, or the display mode of the variable icon is changed to a display mode with a low expectation of winning the benefit, and the variable icon is hidden at the end of the pattern variation. The display mode of the variable icon includes a first display mode and a second display mode in which the winning expectation of the benefit is higher than that of the first display mode. The execution timing of the icon end control includes a first timing and a second timing that is earlier than the first timing, In the case of a pattern change that does not win the special prize, when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second display mode, the icon end control is executed at the second timing at a higher rate than when the display mode immediately before the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the first display mode, The icon change effect may be executed on the reserved icon corresponding to the reserved pattern change, When the icon change performance is executed on the reserved icon, the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon is more likely to be the second display mode than when the icon change performance is not executed on the reserved icon, The game is stopped based on the satisfaction of a predetermined condition, When the predetermined condition is satisfied during the execution of the pattern change, the change icon corresponding to the pattern change is hidden regardless of the display mode of the change icon. A gaming machine characterized by:

3. A gaming machine capable of executing a win / lose judgment for judging whether or not a special offer will be won in association with the start of a pattern change, suspending the start of the pattern change until a change start condition is satisfied, and displaying a change icon which corresponds to the pattern change being executed and indicates the probability of winning the special offer in the corresponding pattern change by a display mode, The means of production, A performance control means for controlling the performance means; Equipped with The performance control means includes: It is possible to execute an icon change performance that can change the variable icon to a display mode with a high winning expectation of the benefit, When the pattern variation ends, the variable icon is hidden, or the display mode of the variable icon is changed to a display mode with a low expectation of winning the benefit, and the variable icon is hidden at the end of the pattern variation. The display mode of the variable icon includes a first display mode and a second display mode in which the winning expectation of the benefit is higher than that of the first display mode. The execution timing of the icon end control includes a first timing and a second timing that is earlier than the first timing, In the case of a pattern change that does not win the special prize, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change is executed is the second timing, the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the second display mode is higher than the percentage of the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing being the first display mode, The icon change effect may be executed on the reserved icon corresponding to the reserved pattern change, When the icon change performance is executed on the reserved icon, the display mode of the variable icon corresponding to the pattern change related to the reserved icon is more likely to be the second display mode than when the icon change performance is not executed on the reserved icon, The privileges include a first privilege and a second privilege that is more advantageous than the first privilege; In the symbol change that wins the special offer, when the timing at which the icon end control of the variable icon corresponding to the symbol change is executed is the first timing, the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the first timing may be the second display mode, The percentage of the benefit being the second benefit when the timing at which the icon end control is executed for the variable icon corresponding to the symbol variation winning the benefit is the first timing and the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the first timing is the second display mode is different from the percentage of the benefit being the second benefit when the timing at which the icon end control is executed for the variable icon corresponding to the symbol variation winning the benefit is the second timing and the display mode of the variable icon immediately before the second timing is the second display mode. A gaming machine characterized by:

Images