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  Methods and systems for electronic virtual racesUSPTO Application #: 20080027919Title: Methods and systems for electronic virtual races Abstract: A method of making a new game available to a plurality of geographically distributed gaming terminals includes steps of accessing a central server over a computer network; querying a central database coupled to the central server to ascertain whether any new games for at least one of the plurality the gaming terminals are stored in the central database; receiving over the computer network any stored new games for the plurality of gaming terminals in a local database, the local database being local to the plurality of gaming terminals, and accessing the local database by at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, searching the local database for any available assigned new games and downloading and installing any available assigned new games found as a result of searching the local database. (end of abstract) Agent: Young Law Firm, P.C. Alan W. Young - Portola Valley, CA, US Inventors: Jean-Marie Gatto, Pierre-Jean Beney USPTO Applicaton #: 20080027919 - Class: 707003000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Data Processing: Database And File Management Or Data Structures, Database Or File Accessing, Query Processing (i.e., Searching) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080027919. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This is a continuation of prior co-pending and commonly assigned application Ser. No. 10/389,463, filed Mar. 13, 2003, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/838,563, filed Apr. 19, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,921,331, issued Jul. 26, 2005, which application and patent are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties and from which priority is hereby claimed under 37 C.F.R. .sctn.1.20. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The invention generally pertains to the field of electronic gaming. More particularly, the present invention relates to electronic games of chance where the skill and/or knowledge of the player has no effect upon the outcome of the game. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Electronic games are popular forms of entertainment the world over. Some of these games enable wagers to be placed on the outcome of the game and a payout to be made based upon predetermined odds. Horse, dog and auto racing are but a few examples of sports on which wagering is commonplace. Traditionally, however, players rely upon their knowledge of the sport, the perceived strengths and weaknesses of individual entrants in the races and hunches to select the entrant on which to place a wager. Some electronic games drawn to simulating such races rely upon historical information and aim to provide the player with the same information he or she would have had if that person had physically attended the actual race. An example of such an electronic game is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,259. However, such a gaming model is believed to be rather inflexible and inherently limited, in that the historical information must be collected, properly formatted, stored and presented to the player before any game can begin. This is believed to be an expensive and slow process that may prove to be unduly burdensome to the game owner and/or operator. Some localities, moreover, do not allow gaming activities that draw in any measure upon the skill and/or knowledge of the player. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] An embodiment of the present invention is a method of making a new game available to a plurality of geographically distributed gaming terminals. The method may include steps of accessing a central server over a computer network; querying a central database coupled to the central server to ascertain whether any new games for at least one of the plurality the gaming terminals are stored in the central database; receiving over the computer network any stored new games for the plurality of gaming terminals in a local database, the local database being local to the plurality of gaming terminals, and accessing the local database by at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, searching the local database for any available assigned new games and downloading and installing any available assigned new games found as a result of searching the local database. [0007] The querying step may be carried out by a local controller coupled to a grouping of gaming terminals. The querying step may be carried out at a predetermined time interval and/or responsive to a predetermined event, for example. The predetermined event may include, for example, a re-booting or resetting of the local controller. A step of associating each stored new game with one or more of the plurality of gaming terminals may be carried out. The updates in the accessing step may implement a first theme on one or more of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a first one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites, and the updates may implement a second theme that is different from the first theme on one or more of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a second one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites. Steps may be carried out of the central server downloading first updates from the central database to a first local database and downloading second updates that are different from the first updates from the central database to a second local database that is geographically remote from the first local database. The first updates may implement a first theme on the gaming terminals coupled to the first local database and the second updates may implement a second theme on the gaming terminals coupled to the second local database. [0008] According to another embodiment thereof, the present invention is also a method of updating a plurality of gaming terminals. The method may include providing a central server; providing a local controller and coupling the local controller to the central server and to the plurality of gaming terminals; providing a local database and coupling the local database to the local controller; providing a central database, coupling the central database to the central server and storing updates assigned to the plurality of gaming terminals in the central database; storing, in the local database, updates assigned to the plurality of gaming terminals received from the central database via the central server, and subscribing, by the plurality of gaming terminals, to receive updates from the local database; publishing, by the local controller, the updates to those gaming terminals having subscribed to receive the updates, and installing the updates in those gaming terminals having subscribed to receive the updates. [0009] A step may be carried out of associating each of the plurality of gaming terminals with a unique identifier and storing, in the central database, the unique identifier of each of the plurality of gaming terminals having subscribed to receive the updates. The updates may include software updates to the local controller and/or the plurality of gaming terminals. The updates may include updated content for one or more of the plurality of gaming terminals. The updated content may include a video sequence, animation and/or graphics, for example. The updated content may include one or more new games. The updated content may include a new feature for a currently installed game. The updated content may include a new theme. A step may be carried out of the local controller accessing the central server and the central database at a selectable predetermined time. A step may be carried out of the local controller periodically resetting itself and subsequently searching the local database for recently received updates. The updates may implement a central theme on one or more of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a central one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites, and the updates may implement a local theme that is different from the central theme on one or more of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a local one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0010] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a library of video sequences according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0011] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a system for providing electronic virtual races, according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0012] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a gaming terminal suitable for carrying out the present invention. [0013] FIG. 4 is a chart of representative odds suitable for use with the present invention. [0014] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for implementing an electronic game of chance, according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0015] FIG. 6 shows a plurality of individually and sequentially numbered video sequences conforming to predetermined odds, according to another embodiment of the present invention. [0016] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system for providing and updating virtual races and games, according to an embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0017] FIG. 1 shows a library 100 of video sequences according to an embodiment of the present invention. As used herein, the term "video sequences" encompasses not only filmed sequences (filmed with a movie or video camera, for example), but also includes computer and/or hand rendered animation, graphics and/or any visual, audio, tactile or sensory perceptual effects. As shown therein, the library 100 of video sequences may be logically organized into a plurality of activity sets. For ease of illustration, only three activity sets 102, 104 and 106 are shown in the library 100, although it is understood that a greater or lesser number of activity sets may be included within the library 100 or accessible thereto. Each activity set 102, 104 and 106 of the library 100 may be associated with a separate activity. In the example of FIG. 1, activity set 102 is associated with horse racing, activity set 104 is associated with auto racing and the activity set 106 is associated with dog racing. Each activity set 102, 104 and 106, according to the present invention, includes a plurality of sequentially numbered subsets. For example, the horse racing activity set 102 may include sequentially numbered subset 1021, 1022, 1023, . . . 102N-1 and 102N. In turn, each of the sequentially numbered subsets 1021, 1022, 1023, . . . 102N-1 and 102N may include a plurality of like numbered video sequences (or animations or other dynamic graphical representation) drawn to the associated activity; namely, horse racing for the horse racing activity set 102. For example, subset 1023 may include a predetermined number of different video sequences of a number 3 horse wining a horse race from among a field of N other horses. For example, subset 1023 may include a dozen (or any number of) different video sequences of various horse and jockey combinations, all bearing the number 3 and all winning the race. Similarly, subset 1022 may include a dozen video sequences of various horse and jockey combinations, all bearing the number 2. Each such video sequence shows a number 2 horse winning the race. Likewise, the car racing activity set 104 may include a plurality of sequentially numbered subsets 1041, 1042, 1043, . . . 104N-1 and 104N. For example, subset 1042 may include a dozen (or any number) of video sequences showing a number 2 car winning a race from among a field of N (where N is any number) other cars. One of the video sequences included in the subset 1042 may show a red number 2 car winning the an auto race, whereas another of the video sequences within the same subset may show a yellow car bearing the number 2 winning the race. Likewise, subset 1044 of activity set 106 (drawn to dog races) includes a plurality of different but like numbered video sequences of a number 4 dog winning a dog race from among a field of N other dogs. Any number of activity sets may be provided in the library 100 including, for example, activity sets drawn to boat races, track and field events, skiing events or most any competitive activity. [0018] Similarly, each of the activity sets 102, 104, 106 and the like may include an intro subset, the intro subset including one or more introductory video sequences. For example, the horse racing set 102 may include an intro subset 1020 that includes a plurality of introductory video sequences that show a horse race up until the last lap, for example. For instance, one of the video sequences of the intro subset 1020 may show the beginning of a horse race at Churchill Downs, and another at the Kentucky Derby and yet another video sequence may show a horse race at some other location for variety. The introductory video sequences of the intro subset 1020 may also show the (virtual) horse race unfolding in different ways, with different horses initially in the lead and different horses initially trailing behind. Similarly, the intro subsets 1040 and 1060 include introductory video sequences of auto and dog races, respectively. The library 100 may be stored in database form and on a random access medium that enables high quality video and audio tracks to be provided for the player. [0019] The present invention, although drawn to wagering on activities that traditionally favor those with a deep understanding or special knowledge of the activity rules, and/or specific participants therein, is nevertheless a pure game of chance. Indeed, although a player may have a great understanding of the dynamics of horse racing, that knowledge has no effect upon the actual outcome of the game and does not further his or her chances of winning. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the present game of chance may include a step of presenting a player with a selection of activities, as shown at S51 in FIG. 5. This selection of activities may be presented to the player on a display screen (as shown at 212 in FIG. 2), for example. For example, the player may be presented with the list Horse Racing; Auto Racing, and Dog Racing and may be invited, by appropriate display prompts, to enter his or her selection. Each of the activities listed above may further include further choices, such as Le Mans, Paris-Dakar or Winston Cup, in the case of auto racing, for example. Once the player has selected an activity (let's say, Horse Racing, for example), he or she may be invited to select a predicted outcome from among a predetermined field of horses, as shown at S52. Short selected video sequences may be shown to the player to assist him or her to select a predicted outcome--that is, the horse (say, horse number 3) that the player believes will win the upcoming horse race. The player may concurrently be shown the odds (such as those shown in FIG. 5, for example) associated with each of the entrants in the upcoming race. Next, the player may be invited to place a wager on his or her selection, as also shown at S52. The wager may either be a real wager (a money bet) or a merely a bet for points or for some other incentive. The wager may be placed by entering paper money in an appropriate slot, by entering coins in a coin slot. Alternatively, the wager may be placed on a debit, credit or other machine-readable card or any form of electronic money. Continue reading... Full patent description for Methods and systems for electronic virtual races Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Methods and systems for electronic virtual races patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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