Obtaining input for controlling execution of a game program

1. A method of obtaining input for controlling execution of a game program, comprising:

receiving controller input information from a user-manipulable game controller, the controller input information including information for identifying a current position of a user-movable control stick of a game controller in relation to a rest position of the control stick;

receiving supplementary input information from an environment in which the controller is being used, wherein the supplementary input information includes information indicating a three-dimensional motion of the game controller; and

obtaining a combined input for controlling the execution of the game program by processing the controller input information and the supplementary input information to yield the combined input, wherein the combined input is obtained by assigning the value of the controller input information representative of a position of the control stick as coarse control information and assigning the value of the supplementary input information representative of the orientation of the user-movable object as fine control information.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the combined input includes individual merged inputs for controlling respective individual functions during execution of the game program, and at least some of the individual merged inputs are obtained by merging the controller input information relative to a particular individual function and the supplementary input information relative to the particular individual function.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the combined input includes merged input for controlling a function during execution of the game program, and at least some of the merged input is obtained by merging the controller input information relative to the function and the supplementary input information relative to the function.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising utilizing a value of a first one of the controller input information or the supplementary input information as modifying input to the game program for modifying control over a still active function activated in accordance with at least one of a second one of the controller input information or the supplementary input information.

5. The method as claimed in claims 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the combined input is obtained by additively combining a value represented by the controller input information with a value represented by the supplementary input information such that the combined input presents a signal having a higher value to the game program than either of the values of the controller input information or the supplementary input information taken alone.

6. The method as claimed in claims 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the combined input is obtained by subtractively combining a value represented by the controller input information with a value represented by the supplementary input information such that the combined input presents a signal having a lower value to the game program than either of the values of the controller input information or the supplementary input information taken alone.

7. The method as claimed in claims 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the combined input presents a signal having a smoothed value to the game program, the smoothed value signal being subject to change more slowly with time than either of the values of the controller input information or the supplementary input information taken alone.

8. The method as claimed in claims 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the combined input presents a high definition signal having increased signal content to the game program, the high definition signal being subject to change more rapidly with time than either of the values of the controller input information or the supplementary input information taken alone.

9. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the supplementary input information includes acoustic information obtained from an acoustic transducer in the environment in response to sounds emitted from a sound source on the controller.

10. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the controller input information includes information identifying whether a pressure-sensitive button is active.

11. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the supplementary input information includes at least one of: i) information obtained from an image capture device in the environment, ii) information from an inertial sensor associated with at least one of the game controller or the user, or iii) information from an acoustic transducer in the environment.

12. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the supplementary input information includes information obtained from an image capture device in the environment, information from an inertial sensor associated with at least one of the game controller or the user, and information from an acoustic transducer in the environment.

13. The method as claimed in claims 2 or 3 , wherein the merging is performed by averaging a value representative of the controller input information with a value representative of the supplementary input information.

14. The method as claimed in claims 2 , 3 or 4 , wherein the supplementary input information includes at least one of inertial sensor information obtained by operation of an inertial sensor or orientation information representative of an orientation of a user-movable object.

15. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the supplementary input information includes information indicative of at least one of a position or an orientation of a user-movable object.

16. The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the value of the controller input information is averaged in a one-to-one ratio with the value of the supplementary input information.

17. The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the controller input information and the supplementary input information are each assigned different weights and the step of averaging is performed as a weighted average of the values of controller input information and supplementary input information in accordance with the assigned weights.

18. The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the inertial sensor is mounted to the game controller and the inertial sensor includes at least one of an accelerometer or a gyroscope.

19. The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the user-movable object includes at least one of the game controller or an article mounted to a body of the game controller and the supplementary input information includes information indicative of an orientation of the user-movable object.

20. The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the supplementary input information includes information indicative of at least one of pitch, yaw or roll.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the supplementary input information includes information indicative of pitch, yaw and roll.

22. The method as claimed in any one of claims 15 through 21 , wherein the combined input is obtained by merging a value of controller input information representative of a position of the control stick with a value of the supplementary input information representative of the orientation of the user-movable object.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the combined input reflects an enhanced pitch up input when the control stick is moved backward while the pitch is increased to a positive (nose-up) value.

24. The method as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the combined input is representative of the value of the coarse control information as adjusted a relatively small amount in accordance with the fine control information.

25. The method as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the combined input is obtained by assigning the value of the controller input information identifying whether a switch of the game controller is active as coarse control information and assigning the value of the supplementary input information representative of the orientation of the user-movable object as fine control information, wherein the combined input is representative of the value of the coarse control information as adjusted a relatively small amount in accordance with the fine control information.

26. The method as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the combined input is obtained by assigning the value of the controller input information identifying whether a switch of the game controller is active as fine control information and assigning the value of the supplementary input information representative of the orientation of the user-movable object as coarse control information, wherein the combined input is representative of the value of the coarse control information as adjusted a relatively small amount in accordance with the fine control information.

27. The method as claimed in claim 23 , wherein the combined input reflects an enhanced pitch down input when the control stick is moved forward while the pitch is decreased to a negative (nose-down) value.

28. A system of obtaining input for controlling execution of a game program, comprising:

means for receiving controller input information from a user-manipulable game controller, the controller input information including information for identifying a current position of a user-movable control stick of the game controller in relation to a rest position of the control stick;

means for receiving supplementary input information from an environment in which the controller is being used, wherein the supplementary input information includes information indicating a three-dimensional motion of the game controller; and

means for obtaining a combined input for controlling the execution of the game program by processing the controller input information and the supplementary input information to yield the combined input,

wherein the combined input is obtained by assigning the value of the controller input information representative of a position of the control stick as coarse control information and assigning the value of the supplementary input information representative of the orientation of the user-movable object as fine control information.