Player matching in a game system

1. A player matching system comprising:

an access pattern analysis unit configured to:

analyze access patterns of a plurality of players of a game provided by at least one game server,

divide one day into a predetermined number of time slots, and

determine whether each of the plurality of players accesses the at least one game server for respective time slots; and

a player recommendation unit configured to recommend to one player of the plurality of players at least some others of the plurality of players with whom the one player can compatibly play the game, based at least in part on the analyzed access patterns, and in order of similarity between the analyzed access pattern of the one player and the analyzed access pattern of each of the others of the plurality of players.

2. The player matching system of claim 1 , wherein the access pattern analysis unit is further configured to identify at least one of when the each of the plurality of players accesses the at least one game server and for how long the each of the plurality of players accesses the at least one game server.

3. The player matching system of claim 1 , wherein the access pattern analysis unit is further configured to analyze the access patterns of the plurality of players based at least in part on access log data for the each of the plurality of players.

4. The player matching system of claim 1 , wherein the access pattern analysis unit is further configured to determine an attribute for the each of the plurality of players and for the each of the predetermined number of time slots based at least in part on which of the predetermined number of time slots the each of the plurality of players the accesses the at least one game server, and

wherein the attribute for the each of the plurality of players and for the each of the predetermined number of time slots is either on-line or off-line.

5. The player matching system of claim 4 , wherein the access pattern analysis unit is further configured to:

calculate, for the each of the plurality of players and for the each of the predetermined number of time slots, a quantity of predetermined days having an on-line attribute; and

determine, for the each of the plurality of players and for the each of the predetermined number of time slots, a representative attribute as on-line if the quantity of days with on-line attribute is higher than a predetermined threshold or as off-line if the quantity of days with on-line attribute is equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold.

6. The player matching system of claim 5 , wherein the access pattern analysis unit is further configured to generate a time slot table for the each of the plurality of players based at least in part on the determined representative attributes for the each of the plurality of players.

7. The player matching system of claim 6 , wherein the player recommendation unit is further configured to:

compare a time slot table for the one player with time slot tables for the others of the plurality of players; and

recommend to the one player the at least some of the others of the plurality of players in order of similarity between the time slot table for the one player and the time slot tables for the others of the plurality of players.

8. The player matching system of claim 6 , wherein the player recommendation unit is further configured to:

calculate an estimate of remaining playing time for the each of the plurality of players accessing the at least one game server from the time of receiving a one-time matching request from the one player, based at least in part on the time slot table for the each of the plurality of players; and

recommend the at least some of the others of the plurality of players in order of similarity between the estimate of remaining playing time for the one player and the estimates of remaining playing times for the others of the plurality of players.

9. The player matching system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a memory configured to store the analyzed access patterns of the plurality of players.

10. A method performed under control of at least one game server, comprising:

analyzing an access pattern of a player playing a game provided by at least one game server by:

dividing one day into a predetermined number of time slots, and

determining whether the player accesses the at least one game server for one of the time slots; and

recommending to the player one or more other compatible players with whom to play the game, based at least in part on the access pattern of the player and access patterns of the one or more other players, and in order of similarity between the access pattern of the player and the access pattern of each of the one or more other players.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the analyzing the access pattern of the player includes identifying at least one of when the player accesses the at least one game server and for how long the player accesses the at least one game server.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the analyzing the access pattern of the player includes analyzing the access pattern of the player based at least in part on access log data of the player.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the analyzing the access pattern of the player further includes:

determining an attribute for the one of the time slots based at least in part on whether the player accesses the at least one game server for the one of the time slots, wherein the attribute for the one of the time slots is either on-line or off-line;

calculating, for the one of the time slots during a span of predetermined days, a quantity of days with the on-line attribute; and

determining, for the one of the time slots, a representative attribute as on-line if the quantity of days with on-line attribute is higher than a predetermined threshold and as off-line if the quantity of days with on-line attribute is equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the analyzing the access pattern of the player further includes:

generating a time slot table for the player based at least in part on the determined representative attribute for the one of the time slots.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the recommending the one or more other players includes:

comparing the time slot table for the player with time slot tables for the one or more other players; and

recommending the one or more other players in order of similarity between the time slot table for the player and the time slot tables for the one or more other players.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the recommending the one or more other players includes:

calculating an estimate of remaining playing time for the player from the time of receiving one-time matching request, based at least in part on the time slot table for the player;

calculating each estimate of remaining playing time for each of the one or more other players accessing the at least one game server from the time of receiving the one-time matching request, based at least in part on the time slot table for the each of the one or more other players; and

recommending the one or more other players in order of similarity between the estimate of remaining playing time for the player and the estimates of remaining playing times for the one or more other players.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the analyzing the access pattern of the player further includes determining an attribute for the one of the time slots, and determining the attribute of the one of the time slots as on-line if the player accesses the at least one game server longer than a predetermined portion of a length of the one of time slots.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, in response to execution by at least one processor based device, cause a player matching system to perform operations, comprising:

analyzing access log data of a plurality of players of a game provided by at least one game server by;

dividing one day into a predetermined number of time slots, and

determining whether each of the plurality of players accesses the at least one game server for respective time slots; and

recommending to one player of the plurality of players at least some of the other players having access patterns that are similar to an access pattern of the one player, and in order of similarity between the access pattern of the one player and the access pattern of each of the other players.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprises:

calculating respective similarities between the access pattern of the one player and the respective access patterns of the other players; and

providing the one player with a list of the at least some of the other players based at least in part on the calculated similarities.