Game Recommendation Engine Using Privacy-Preserving Intermediary

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Solution Overview

Problem

The challenge lies in developing an effective recommender system for video and computer games that addresses privacy concerns, parental controls, and efficiently suggests game titles to players based on their preferences while ensuring user consent and real-time data utilization.

Innovation Solution

An online recommendation service that generates player profiles by tracking game titles downloaded, played, and purchased, incorporating parental controls and privacy protection, using various algorithms to provide personalized game title suggestions based on player preferences, including popularity, search strategies, and game-related data, while ensuring user consent before data disclosure.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If a recommender system collects and analyzes player behavior data to provide personalized game recommendations, then recommendation accuracy and player engagement improve, but player privacy concerns increase and data security requirements worsen

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverecommendation accuracyVSAvoidprivacy concerns
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a recommendation server as an intermediary between players and game manufacturers. This server collects player behavior data, processes it through recommendation algorithms, and provides personalized game recommendations without requiring direct data sharing between players and manufacturers. The server acts as a trusted mediator that protects player privacy while enabling accurate recommendations through centralized data processing and analysis.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If the system tracks detailed player activities including game titles downloaded, played, and purchased, then the quality of personalized recommendations improves, but the complexity of data management and processing increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepersonalization qualityVSAvoiddata management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the recommendation system into distinct functional modules: a data collection component that gathers player behavior information, a recommendation server that processes this data using algorithms, and a delivery mechanism that provides recommendations to players. This segmentation allows each module to handle specific tasks independently, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high personalization quality through specialized processing in each segment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The recommendation server serves as an intermediary that manages the complexity of data processing. It receives raw player behavior data, applies recommendation algorithms, and outputs personalized game suggestions. This intermediary layer abstracts the complex data management operations from both the data sources (players) and the end users, simplifying the overall system architecture while enabling sophisticated personalization.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Loss of information

If the recommendation system provides real-time suggestions based on current player behavior, then recommendation relevance improves, but the processing speed and computational resource requirements worsen

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverecommendation relevanceVSAvoidprocessing speed
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by pre-processing and storing player behavior data in structured formats before recommendations are needed. The recommendation server maintains organized databases of player activities, game metadata, and preference profiles in advance. When a recommendation is requested, the system queries these pre-processed data structures rather than analyzing raw data from scratch, significantly improving response speed while maintaining recommendation relevance through up-to-date player behavior tracking.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS9352233B2Recommendation engine for electronic game shopping channel
Publication Date: 2016.05.31 NINTENDO OF AMERICA INC
  • US9352233B2 patent drawing
  • US9352233B2 patent drawing
  • US9352233B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A recommendation service is provided for recommending computer video game titles to players. The recommendation service offers suggestions for game titles to purchase or rent based on playing usage related parameters for each particular player. A profile is created based on several factors that represents the player's affinity to each factor. Communication and use of player usage data may be strictly conditioned on a player's knowledge and consent.