Granted Patent B2

US 8,876,592 · App. 13/441,345 · Granted Nov 4, 2014

Abstract

Claims (38)

1. A gaming system including a first gaming terminal and a second gaming terminal, the gaming system comprising:

at least two input devices;

at least two display devices;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least two display devices and the at least two input devices to:

display primary wagering games to the first and second gaming terminals in response to receiving one or more wagers at the respective gaming terminals,

display a first perceived-value enhancement to the first gaming terminal, the first perceived-value enhancement being active for a first limited period of time, the first perceived-value enhancement capable of enhancing a subsequent bonus event,

trigger a bonus event provided to at least one of the first and second gaming terminals, wherein the triggering of the bonus event has an average frequency of being triggered, the average frequency being greater during the first limited period of time, and

provide an enhanced bonus event to the first gaming terminal in response to the bonus event triggered for the first gaming terminal while the first perceived-value enhancement is active.

2. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein a second perceived-value enhancement is provided to the second gaming terminal, the second perceived-value enhancement being active for a second limited period of time and capable of enhancing a subsequent bonus event.

3. The gaming system of claim 2 , wherein the first perceived-value enhancement is different from the second perceived-value enhancement.

4. The gaming system of claim 2 , wherein the first limited period of time is different from the second limited period of time.

5. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the bonus event is triggered for both the first gaming terminal and the second gaming terminal while the first perceived-value enhancement is active, the first gaming terminal playing the bonus event with the perceived-value enhancement applied to the bonus event and the second gaming terminal playing the bonus event without the perceived-value enhancement applied.

6. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the average frequency is at least ten times larger during the first limited period of time.

7. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the first perceived-value enhancement is not provided to the first gaming terminal if the bonus event is not triggered during the limited period of time.

8. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the perceived bonus-award enhancement includes at least one of a multiplier, a credit award, an additional award outcome, and a nullification of an adverse outcome.

9. The gaming system of claim 1 , further comprising a community display coupled to the first and second gaming terminals, the community display displaying an informational graphic related to the first perceived bonus-award enhancement.

10. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the first perceived-value enhancement is associated with a particular character, the first gaming terminal also being associated with the particular character.

11. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the perceived bonus-award enhancement is an increase in the opportunity to trigger a second bonus event based on outcomes in the triggered bonus event.

12. A computer-implemented method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system, the method comprising:

receiving wagers via input devices associated with a plurality of gaming terminals; displaying, in response to each of the input wagers, an instance of a base game on a display device associated with at least of one of the respective gaming terminals;

displaying a first perceived bonus-award enhancement to a first gaming terminal for a first limited period of time, the first perceived bonus-award enhancement being capable of enhancing a subsequent bonus event;

displaying a second perceived bonus-award enhancement to a second gaming terminal for a second limited period of time, the second perceived bonus-award enhancement being capable of enhancing a subsequent bonus event;

triggering a bonus event, wherein the triggering of the bonus event occurs with an average frequency, the average frequency being greater than the first limited period of time and the second limited period of time;

providing an enhanced bonus event to the first gaming terminal in response to the bonus event being triggered during the first limited period of time; and

providing an enhanced bonus event to the second gaming terminal in response to the bonus event being triggered during the second limited period of time.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the first perceived bonus-award enhancement is different from the second perceived bonus-award enhancement.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the first limited period of time is different than the second limited period of time.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the perceived bonus-award enhancements are not provided to the respective gaming terminals if the bonus event is not triggered during either the first limited period of time or the second limited period of time.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the perceived bonus-award enhancements include at least one of a multiplier, a credit award, an additional award outcome, and a nullification of an adverse outcome.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the first perceived-value enhancement is associated with a first character, the first gaming terminal also being associated with the first character, and wherein the second perceived-value enhancement is associated with a second character, the second gaming terminal also being associated with the second character.

18. One or more physical machine-readable storage media including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving wagers via input devices associated with a plurality of gaming terminals; displaying, in response to each of the input wagers, an instance of a base game on a display device associated with at least of one of the respective gaming terminals;

displaying a first perceived bonus-award enhancement to a first gaming terminal for a first limited period of time, the first perceived bonus-award enhancement being capable of enhancing a subsequent bonus event;

displaying a second perceived bonus-award enhancement to a second gaming terminal for a second limited period of time, the second perceived bonus-award enhancement being capable of enhancing a subsequent bonus event;

triggering a bonus event, wherein the triggering of the bonus event occurs with an average frequency, the average frequency being greater than the first limited period of time and the second limited period of time;

providing an enhanced bonus event to the first gaming terminal in response to the bonus event being triggered during the first limited period of time; and

providing an enhanced bonus event to the second gaming terminal in response to the bonus event being triggered during the second limited period of time.

Assignments (10)