Granted Patent B2

US 8,821,278 · App. 13/523,375 · Granted Sep 2, 2014

Abstract

Claims (88)

1. A gaming system comprising:

a community display device having a plurality of display regions thereon;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to:

(i) detect activation of a first supplemental feature by a first player playing a first primary wagering game at a first gaming device distinct from the community display device;

(ii) detect activation of a second supplemental feature by a second player playing a second primary wagering game at a second gaming device distinct from the community display device, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of the first primary wagering game and the second primary wagering game;

(iii) assign the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set; and

(iv) display the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first display region is larger than the second display region.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an operator control computer including the processor and the memory device, the operator control computer being in communication with the community display device, wherein the first rule set is stored in the memory device.

4. A gaming system comprising:

a community display device having a plurality of display regions thereon;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to:

(i) detect activation of a first supplemental feature by a first player;

(ii) detect activation of a second supplemental feature by a second player, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of a first primary wagering game and a second primary wagering game;

(iii) assign the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set; and

(iv) display the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions;

wherein the first and second supplemental features are displayed along with one or more of a plurality of additional activatable supplemental features.

5. A gaming system comprising:

a community display device having a plurality of display regions thereon;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to:

(i) detect activation of a first supplemental feature by a first player;

(ii) detect activation of a second supplemental feature by a second player, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of a first primary wagering game and a second primary wagering game;

(iii) assign the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set; and

(iv) display the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions;

wherein the first and second supplemental features are associated with respective different priority levels, the first and second supplemental features being assigned to the respective first and second display regions based, at least in part, on the priority levels.

6. A gaming system comprising:

a community display device having a plurality of display regions thereon;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to:

(i) detect activation of a first supplemental feature by a first player;

(ii) detect activation of a second supplemental feature by a second player, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of a first primary wagering game and a second primary wagering game;

(iii) assign the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set; and

(iv) display the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions;

wherein the first rule set evaluates a set of metrics to determine content for each of the plurality of display regions.

7. A gaming system comprising:

at least one community display device having a plurality of display regions thereon; and

an operator control computer in communication with the at least one community display device, the operator control computer comprising at least one memory device storing at least a first rule set for controlling the plurality of display regions and resolving which of a plurality of activatable supplemental features is displayed in each of the plurality of display regions;

wherein the activatable supplemental features include a first supplemental feature by a player and a second supplemental feature by a second player, the first player playing a first primary wagering game at a first gaming device distinct from the community display device, the second player playing a second primary wagering game at a second gaming device distinct from the community display device.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein each of the activatable supplemental features is associated with a base priority level and an overall priority level.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of display regions displays at least one activated supplemental feature.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one activated supplemental feature is selected from the plurality of activatable supplemental features.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein a first one of the plurality of display regions is larger than the remainder of the plurality of display regions.

12. A gaming system comprising:

at least one community display device having a plurality of display regions thereon; and

an operator control computer in communication with the at least one community display device, the operator control computer comprising at least one memory device storing at least a first rule set for controlling the plurality of display regions and resolving which of a plurality of activatable supplemental features is displayed in each of the plurality of display regions;

wherein each of the activatable supplemental features is associated with a base priority level and an overall priority level;

wherein the first rule set evaluates the base priority level and overall priority level of each of the activatable supplemental features.

13. A gaming system comprising:

at least one community display device having a plurality of display regions thereon; and

an operator control computer in communication with the at least one community display device, the operator control computer comprising at least one memory device storing at least a first rule set for controlling the plurality of display regions and resolving which of a plurality of activatable supplemental features is displayed in each of the plurality of display regions;

wherein the activatable supplemental features include first and second supplemental features associated with respective different priority levels, the first and second supplemental features being assigned, respectively, to a first and second display regions of the plurality of display region based, at least in part, on the priority levels.

14. A computer-implemented method in a gaming system, comprising:

displaying on at least one community display device a plurality of display regions;

detecting, by one or more processors, activation of a first supplemental feature by a first player playing a first primary wagering game at a first gaming device distinct from the community display device;

detecting, by at least one of the one or more processors, activation of a second supplemental feature by a second player playing a second primary wagering game at a second gaming device distinct from the community display device, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of the first primary wagering game and the second primary wagering game;

assigning, by at least one of the one or more processors, the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set; and

displaying the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first display region is larger than the second display region.

16. A computer-implemented method in a gaming system, comprising:

displaying on at least one community display device a plurality of display regions;

detecting, by one or more processors, activation of a first supplemental feature by a first player;

detecting, by at least one of the one or more processors, activation of a second supplemental feature by a second player, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of a first primary wagering game and a second primary wagering game;

assigning, by at least one of the one or more processors, the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set;

displaying the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions; and

displaying, by at least one of the one or more processors, the first and second supplemental features along with one or more of a plurality of additional activatable supplemental features.

17. A computer-implemented method in a gaming system, comprising:

displaying on at least one community display device a plurality of display regions;

detecting, by one or more processors, activation of a first supplemental feature by a first player;

detecting, by at least one of the one or more processors, activation of a second supplemental feature by a second player, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of a first primary wagering game and a second primary wagering game;

assigning, by at least one of the one or more processors, the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set;

displaying the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions; and

assigning the first and second supplemental features to the respective first and second display regions based, at least in part, on different priority levels associated, respectively, with the first and second supplemental features.

18. A computer-implemented method in a gaming system, comprising:

displaying on at least one community display device a plurality of display regions;

detecting, by one or more processors, activation of a first supplemental feature by a first player;

detecting, by at least one of the one or more processors, activation of a second supplemental feature by a second player, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of a first primary wagering game and a second primary wagering game;

assigning, by at least one of the one or more processors, the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set;

displaying the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions; and

evaluating, by at least one of the one or more processors, a set of metrics to determine content for each of the plurality of display regions.

19. A computer-implemented method in a gaming system, comprising:

displaying on at least one community display device a plurality of display regions;

in response to an input by a first player via a first input device of a first gaming device distinct from the community display device, activating, by one or more processors, a first supplemental feature;

in response to an input by a second player via a second input device of a second gaming device distinct from the community display device, activating, by one or more processors, a second supplemental feature, the first supplemental feature and the second supplemental feature being gameplay features of at least one of a first primary wagering game and a second primary wagering game;

assigning, by at least one of the one or more processors, the first and second supplemental features to respective first and second display regions of the plurality of display regions in accordance with at least a first rule set; and

displaying the first and second supplemental features in the respective assigned first and second display regions.

Assignments (12)