Granted Patent B2

US 12,636,576 · App. 18/340,398 · Granted May 26, 2026

Inventor: Shintaro Sato (Kyoto, JP)

Assignee: NINTENDO CO., LTD.

A63F13/34A63F13/795

Abstract

Claims (64)

1 . A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein instructions that, when executed by a computer of a first terminal of a first user among a plurality of networkable terminals, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

setting an arbitrary string specified by the first user in association with the first user;

executing a specified application and, while executing the specified application, acquiring status information that is sent from a second terminal of a second user for whom the same string set in association with the first user is set, the status information including a status of the specified application being executed on the second terminal;

as a result of acquiring status information that the second user has hosted or joined a session, presenting, to the first user, a notification that at least one of: 1) the second user has hosted and joined a session for playing a game with a plurality of users, and 2) the second user has joined as a guest for a session hosted by a user different from the second user;

based on presentation of the notification, causing the first user to join the session by establishing communication at least between the first terminal and the second terminal in response to the first user's request to join the session; and

sending, based on the first user having joined a session, session participation information indicating that the first user has joined the session as the status information so as to be received by the second terminal of the second user for whom the same string set in association with the first user is set.

2 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , the operations further comprise based on there being a specified number or more of the second terminals of second users for whom the same string set in association with the first user is set sending the status information toward the second terminals whose number is limited by the specified number.

3 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , the operations further comprise sending the status information toward the second terminal that is connected to the Internet.

4 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise sending the status information toward the second terminal is restricted based on a status information sending restriction condition being satisfied.

5 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , the operations further comprise setting a single string specified by the first user in association with the first user.

6 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , the operations further comprise based on the first user inputting a recruitment operation to request recruitment of the second user after joining the session, sending the status information toward the second terminal.

7 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 6 , wherein the operations further comprise based on a user including a friend user having a friend relationship with the first user or a matching user matched by random matching requests to join the session after the first user joins the session and before the recruitment operation input is given, sending the status information toward the terminal of the friend or the terminal of the matching user.

8 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise establishing a peer-to-peer (P2P) network connection between the first terminal and the second terminal to allow the first user to join the session.

9 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise sending the status information to a server apparatus for sending the status information toward the second terminal.

10 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise acquiring the status information from the second terminal via a server apparatus.

11 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

further acquiring the status information sent from the other terminal of the other user having a friend relationship with the first user; and

sending the session participation information so as to be received also by the other terminal of the other user having a friend relationship with the first user.

12 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

based on the status information indicating that progress of an application executed on the second terminal satisfies a specified condition presenting a notification about the progress to the first user; and

sending data indicating the first user's reaction to the notification to the second terminal based on an operation performed by the first user in response to the notification.

13 . A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein instructions that, when executed by a computer of at least one server apparatus capable of communicating with a plurality of networkable terminals, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

acquiring, from a first terminal of a first user with whom an arbitrary string is set in association, status information that includes a status of a specified application executed on the first terminal;

sending the status information toward a second terminal of a second user with whom the same string set in association with the first user is set in association;

based on the status information that the second user has hosted or joined a session, causing a notification based on the acquired status information to be sent to the first user, the notification being that at least one of: 1) the second user has hosted and joined a session for playing a game with a plurality of users, and 2) the second user has joined as a guest for a session hosted by a user different from the second user; and

based on the notification, allowing the second user to join the session by establishing communication at least between the first terminal and the second terminal.

14 . One of a plurality of networkable information processing apparatuses, the information processing apparatus comprising: a processor and a memory coupled thereto, the processor being configured to control the information processing system to at least:

setting an arbitrary string specified by a first user in association with the first user;

executing a specified application and, while executing the specified application, acquiring status information that is sent from a second terminal of a second user for whom the same string set in association with the first user is set, the status information including a status of the specified application being executed on the second terminal;

as a result of acquiring status information that the second user has hosted or joined a session, presenting, to the first user, a notification that at least one of: 1) the second user has hosted and joined a session for playing a game with a plurality of users, and 2) the second user has joined as a guest for a session hosted by a user different from the second user;

based on presentation of the notification, allowing the first user to join the session by establishing communication at least between the first terminal of the first user and the second terminal in response to the first user's request to join the session; and

sending, based on the first user having joined a session, session participation information indicating that the first user has joined the session as the status information so as to be received by the second terminal of second user for whom the same string set in association with the first user is set.

15 . An information processing system comprising:

a plurality of networkable terminals that includes a first terminal and a second terminal,

the first terminal comprises: a processor and a memory coupled thereto, the processor being configured to control the information processing system to perform operations comprising:

setting an arbitrary string specified by a first user in association with the first user;

causing the first user to join a session, which is for playing a game with a plurality of users that includes a user different from the first user; and

based on the joining a session, sending session participation information indicating that the first user has joined the session as status information to a second terminal of a second user for whom the same string set for the first user is set, and

wherein the second terminal comprises: a processor and a memory coupled thereto, the processor of the second terminal being configured to control the information processing system to perform operations comprising:

setting an arbitrary string specified by the second user in association with the second user;

executing a specified application and, while executing the specified application, acquiring status information that is sent from the terminal of the first user for whom the same string set in association with the second user is set, wherein the status information includes a status of the specified application being executed on the first user's terminal;

as a result of acquiring status information that the second user has hosted or joined a session, presenting, to the second user, a notification that the first user has joined the session for playing the game with the plurality of users; and

based on presentation of the notification, allowing the second user to join the session by establishing communication at least between the first terminal and the second terminal in response to the second user's request to join the session.

16 . The information processing system according to claim 15 , further comprising: a server apparatus communicably connected to the first terminal and the second terminal, wherein the server apparatus sends status information to and between the first terminal and the second terminal for both of which a same string is set.

17 . At least one server apparatus capable of communicating with a plurality of networkable terminals, the server apparatus comprising: a processor and a memory coupled thereto, the processor being configured to control the server apparatus to at least:

receiving, from a first terminal of a first user with whom an arbitrary string is set in association, status information that includes a status of a specified application executed on the first terminal;

sending the status information toward a second terminal of a second user with whom the same string set in association with the first user is set in association;

based on the status information that the second user has hosted or joined a session, causing a notification based on the acquired status information to be sent to the first user, the notification being that at least one of: 1) the second user has hosted and joined a session for playing a game with a plurality of users, and 2) the second user has joined as a guest for a session hosted by a user different from the second user; and

based on the notification, allowing the second user to join the session by establishing communication at least between the first terminal and the second terminal.

18 . An information processing method executed by at least one server apparatus capable of communicating with a plurality of networkable terminals, the information processing method comprising the steps of:

receiving, from a first terminal of a first user with whom an arbitrary string is set in association, status information that includes a status of a specified application executed on the first terminal;

sending the status information toward a second terminal of a second user with whom the same string set in association with the first user is set in association;

based on the status information that the second user has hosted or joined a session, causing a notification based on the acquired status information to be sent to the first user, the notification being that at least one of: 1) the second user has hosted and joined a session for playing a game with a plurality of users, and 2) the second user has joined as a guest for a session hosted by a user different from the second use; and

based on the notification, allowing the second user to join the session by establishing communication at least between the first terminal and the second terminal.

19 . An information processing method executed by a computer of a first terminal of a first user among a plurality of networkable terminals, the information processing method comprising the steps of:

setting an arbitrary string specified by the first user in association with the first user; and

executing a specified application and, while executing the specified application, sending status information that includes a status of the specified application toward second terminal of second user for whom the same string set in association with the first user is set, wherein, based on the status information that the first user has hosted or joined a session, a notification is presented to the second user of the second terminal based on the status of the specified application included in the status information, the notification indicating the first user is in a session for playing a game with a plurality of users; and

based on the notification, allowing the second user to join the session by establishing communication at least between the first terminal and the second terminal in response to the second user's request to join the session.

20 . An information processing method executed by a computer of a first terminal of a first user among a plurality of networkable terminals, the information processing method comprising the steps of:

setting an arbitrary string specified by the first user in association with the first user;

executing a specified application and, while executing the specified application, acquiring status information that is sent from second terminal of second user for whom the same string set in association with the first user is set, the status information including a status of the specified application being executed on the second terminal;

as a result of acquiring status information that the second user has hosted or joined a session, presenting, to the first user, a notification that at least one of: 1) the second user has hosted and joined a session for playing a game with a plurality of users, and 2) the second user has joined as a guest for a session hosted by a user different from the second user; and

based on presentation of the notification, allowing the first user to join the session by establishing communication at least between the first user's terminal and the second terminal in response to the first user's request to join the session.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (19)