IP Library Granted Patent US 10,786,736
Granted Patent B2
US 10,786,736 · App. 12/777,268 · Granted Sep 29, 2020

Placement of user information in a game space

Inventor: George Weising (Foster City, CA)
Assignee: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC
A63F13/5375A63F13/54A63F13/798A63F2300/305A63F2300/306
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,786,736
App. No.
12/777,268
Granted
Sep 29, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

The generation, association, and display of in-game tags are disclosed. Such tags introduce an additional dimension of community participation to both single and multiplayer games. Through such tags, players are empowered to communicate through filtered text messages and images as well as audio clips that other game players, including top rated players, have generated and placed at particular coordinates and/or in context of particular events within the game space. The presently described in-game tags and associated user generated content further allow for label based searches with respect to game play.

Claims (37)

1. A computer-implemented method for providing only contextually relevant user-generated game play advice for a location within a dynamic game, the method comprising:

executing, by a processor, first instructions stored in a memory to receive an indication of a location within a game space using a virtual coordinate system, the location corresponding to a desirability for rendering of game play advice;

executing, by the processor, second instructions stored in the memory:

(i) to receive the game play advice for a first location from a user, and

(ii) to determine a first scenario generated by the dynamic game that corresponds to the game play advice for the first location;

executing, by the processor, third instructions stored in the memory to assign the game play advice to the first location specifically for the first scenario generated by the dynamic game within the game space, the first location and the first scenario being previously identified as desirous of the game play advice;

executing, by the processor, fourth instructions stored in the memory to, during subsequent game play, determine:

(iii) the subsequent game play's location within the game space; and

(iv) the subsequent game play's scenario at the subsequent game play's location; and

executing, by the processor, fifth instructions stored in the memory to, in response to the subsequent game play being at the first location within the game space, automatically display at the first location any of the game play advice that is appropriate for the determined subsequent game play's scenario at the first location, such that the game play advice other than that which is appropriate for the subsequent game play's scenario at the first location is not displayed at the first location.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the game play advice is displayed in a three-dimensional virtual environment.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the virtual coordinate system uses X, Y, and Z coordinates.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the game play advice is textual.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the game play advice is visual.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the game play advice is audible.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein executing to display the game play advice includes a consideration of a ranking of all available game play advice, and wherein only game play advice of a particular ranking is displayed at the location and with respect to the present context of game play, the game play advice further allowing for corrections to be made by the user.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising retracing the game play advice upon which the game play is based, the game play advice retraceable by the user after completion of the game play for revising or adding to the game play advice.

9. A system for providing only contextually relevant user-generated game play advice for a location within a dynamic game, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled with the processor, the memory storing instructions which when executed by the processor perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving, via a content submission engine, the game play advice over a network from a user;

assigning, via a virtual coordinate system engine, the game play advice to a location within the game space;

identifying, via a context engine, a first scenario generated by the dynamic game that corresponds to the game play advice for the first location, and assigning the game play advice to the first location specifically for the first scenario generated by the dynamic game within the game space;

during subsequent game play, determining, via the context engine:

(iii) the subsequent game play's location within the game space; and

(iv) the subsequent game play's scenario at the subsequent game play's location; and

in response to the subsequent game play being at the first location within the game space, automatically displaying, via a display engine, at the first location any of the game play advice that is appropriate for the determined subsequent game play's scenario at the first location, such that the game play advice other than that which is appropriate for the subsequent game play's scenario at the first location is not displayed at the first location.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises affecting, via a ranking engine, the game play advice displayed by the display engine notwithstanding the context of the event and the location of the event.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises receiving, via a feedback engine, feedback from a community of users with respect to the quality of the game play advice displayed by the display engine, wherein the feedback engine and the ranking engine operate to allocate a new ranking to the game play advice in accordance with the feedback received from the community of users, the game play advice being subsequently displayed by the display engine in accordance with the new ranking.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the display engine operates using an asynchronous programming language to continually update displayed game play advice submissions in accordance with a most recent determination as to the context of the event.

13. A method for providing only contextually relevant user-generated game play advice for a location within a dynamic game, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of a location within a game space using a virtual coordinate system;

receiving game play advice from a user;

recognizing metadata associated with objects, challenges or enemies in the game play at the location that indicate that user generated advice is allowed;

assigning the user generated game play advice to the location within the game space and assign the user generated game play advice a tag based upon the recognized metadata; and

automatically displaying game play advice during subsequent game play at the same location within the game space using the virtual coordinate system if recognized metadata in the subsequent game play is similar to the recognized metadata indicated by the tag associated with the game play advice.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising retracing the game play advice upon which the game play is based, the game play advice retraceable by the user after completion of the game play for revising or adding to the game play advice.

Assignments (3)
MERGER Recorded Mar 30, 2020
From: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
To: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC
Reel/Frame 053323/0567 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded May 5, 2016
From: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
To: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
Reel/Frame 038626/0637 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 30, 2010
From: WEISING, GEORGE
To: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
Reel/Frame 024770/0454 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20110281648A1 · Nov 17, 2011
Cited By (1)
US 12,582,905