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Wagering game with audio game cuesRelated Patent Categories: Amusement Devices: Games, Including Means For Processing Electronic Data (e.g., Computer/video Game, Etc.), In A Chance ApplicationWagering game with audio game cues description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060287037, Wagering game with audio game cues. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/681,812 filed May 17, 2005, which application is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates generally to computerized wagering game machines, and more specifically to audio game cues in a computerized wagering game. LIMITED COPYRIGHT WAIVER [0003] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material to which the claim of copyright protection is made. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any person of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but reserves all other rights whatsoever. Copyright 2006, WMS Gaming, Inc. BACKGROUND [0004] Traditional mechanical wagering game machines such as slot machines have largely been replaced by computerized electronic wagering game systems, which are also rapidly being adopted to implement computerized versions of games that are traditionally played live such as poker and blackjack. These computerized games provide many benefits to the game owner and to the game player, including greater reliability than can be achieved with a mechanical game or human dealer, more variety, sound, and animation in presentation of a game, and a lower overall cost of production and management. [0005] The elements of computerized wagering game systems are in many ways the same as the elements in the mechanical and table game counterparts in that they should be fair, they should provide sufficient feedback to the game player to make the game fun to play, and they should meet a variety of gaming regulations to ensure that both the machine owner and wagering game player are honest and fairly treated in implementing the game. Further, they must provide a gaming experience that is at least as attractive as the older mechanical gaming machine experience to the wagering game player, to ensure success in a competitive gaming market. [0006] Computerized wagering games do not rely on the dealer or other game players to facilitate game play and to provide an entertaining game playing environment, but rely upon the presentation of the game and environment generated by the wagering game machine itself. Incorporation of audio and video features into wagering games to present the wagering game, to provide guidance or direction to the game player, and to enhance the environment presented are therefore important elements in the attractiveness and commercial success of a computerized wagering game system. It is not uncommon for audio voices to provide instruction and help, and to provide commentary on the wagering game being played. Music and environmental effects are also played through speakers in some wagering game systems to enhance or complement a theme of the wagering game. These sounds typically accompany video presentation of the wagering game on a screen, which itself often includes animation, video, and three-dimensional graphics as part of presentation of the wagering game. [0007] But, such wagering games typically have simple tracks of sounds that are played during certain modes, such as attract mode, game play mode, or bonus mode, and don't vary the sound or audio effects presented during game play or during other modes or convey information except through audio presented at the same time as a visual indicator of some element of the game. This makes wagering games somewhat predictable in their presentation of music and other sound effects, resulting in a gaming experience that lacks the suspense or drama other forms of entertainment such as movies provide through use of audio. [0008] It is therefore desirable to use audio to in a way indicating information regarding game play beyond simply indicating a result of a game event. SUMMARY [0009] One example embodiment of the invention comprises a computerized wagering game system having a gaming module and an audio module. The gaming module comprises a processor and gaming code which is operable when executed on the processor to conduct a wagering game on which monetary value can be wagered; and the audio module is operable to generate sounds to be played through one or more speakers, where the sounds are configured to indicate a change in game rules. [0010] In a further embodiment, the sound played indicates a change in at least one of odds of winning, award for winning, or eligibility for a bonus, or indicates accumulation or opportunity to accumulate a game element as part of an ongoing or long-term game. In other embodiments, the sound indicating a change in game rules is presented independent of changes between normal game play and bonus round game play, and is consistent with a theme of the wagering game. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0011] FIG. 1 shows a computerized wagering game machine, as may be used to practice some example embodiments of the present invention. [0012] FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method of providing audio to indicate a change in game rules, consistent with some example embodiments of the present invention. [0013] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computerized wagering game system operable to play audio to indicate a change in game rules, consistent with some example embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0014] In the following detailed description of example embodiments of the invention, reference is made to specific examples by way of drawings and illustrations. These examples are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and serve to illustrate how the invention may be applied to various purposes or embodiments. Other embodiments of the invention exist and are within the scope of the invention, and logical, mechanical, electrical, and other changes may be made without departing from the subject or scope of the present invention. Features or limitations of various embodiments of the invention described herein, however essential to the example embodiments in which they are incorporated, do not limit the invention as a whole, and any reference to the invention, its elements, operation, and application do not limit the invention as a whole but serve only to define these example embodiments. The following detailed description does not, therefore, limit the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the appended claims. [0015] Various examples of the present invention presented here seek to provide the user with a more entertaining and more varied wagering game experience by using sound to indicate a change in wagering game rules. One example embodiment of the invention comprises a computerized wagering game system having a gaming module and an audio module, in which the gaming module comprises a processor and gaming code which is operable when executed on the processor to conduct a wagering game on which monetary value can be wagered. The audio module is operable to generate sounds to be played through one or more speakers, where the sounds are configured to indicate a change in game rules. [0016] In further embodiments, the sound played to indicate a change in game rules indicates a change in at least one of odds of winning, award for winning, or eligibility for a bonus, or indicates accumulation or opportunity to accumulate a game element as part of an ongoing or long-term game. In other embodiments, the sound indicating a change in game rules is presented independent of changes between normal game play and bonus round game play, and is consistent with a theme of the wagering game. [0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a computerized wagering game machine, as may be used to practice some embodiments of the present invention. The computerized gaming system shown generally at 100 is a video wagering game system, which displays information for at least one wagering game upon which monetary value can be wagered on video display 101. Video display 101 is in various embodiments a CRT display, a plasma display, an LCD display, a surface conducting electron emitter display, or any other type of display suitable for displaying electronically provided display information. Alternate embodiments of the invention will have other game indicators, such as mechanical reels instead of the video graphics reels shown at 102 that comprise a part of a video slot machine wagering game. Continue reading about Wagering game with audio game cues... 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