US20020039924A1 - Portable color display game machine and storage medium for the same - Google Patents
Portable color display game machine and storage medium for the same Download PDFInfo
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- US20020039924A1 US20020039924A1 US09/982,075 US98207501A US2002039924A1 US 20020039924 A1 US20020039924 A1 US 20020039924A1 US 98207501 A US98207501 A US 98207501A US 2002039924 A1 US2002039924 A1 US 2002039924A1
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Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
- A63F13/20—Input arrangements for video game devices
- A63F13/22—Setup operations, e.g. calibration, key configuration or button assignment
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
- A63F13/90—Constructional details or arrangements of video game devices not provided for in groups A63F13/20 or A63F13/25, e.g. housing, wiring, connections or cabinets
- A63F13/92—Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
- A63F13/90—Constructional details or arrangements of video game devices not provided for in groups A63F13/20 or A63F13/25, e.g. housing, wiring, connections or cabinets
- A63F13/95—Storage media specially adapted for storing game information, e.g. video game cartridges
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F2300/00—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game
- A63F2300/10—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game characterized by input arrangements for converting player-generated signals into game device control signals
- A63F2300/1018—Calibration; Key and button assignment
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F2300/00—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game
- A63F2300/20—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game characterised by details of the game platform
- A63F2300/203—Image generating hardware
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F2300/00—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game
- A63F2300/20—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game characterised by details of the game platform
- A63F2300/204—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game characterised by details of the game platform the platform being a handheld device
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F2300/00—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game
- A63F2300/20—Features of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions, e.g. on a television screen, showing representations related to the game characterised by details of the game platform
- A63F2300/206—Game information storage, e.g. cartridges, CD ROM's, DVD's, smart cards
Abstract
A portable color display game machine includes a game cartridge type determining circuit configured to determine whether a color game cartridge storing color data for a game or a monochrome game cartridge storing monochrome data for a game is attached to the color display game machine. Color display generating circuitry is configured to generate a color game display based on the color data when the color game cartridge is attached to the color display game machine, and to generate a color game display based on the monochrome data when the monochrome game cartridge is attached to the color display game machine.
Description
- This application also claims priority under 35 U.S.C.
Section 119 from Application No. 60/112,181 filed in the United States on Dec. 15, 1998 and Application No. 60/123,745 filed in the United States on Mar. 10, 1999. The contents of Application Nos. 60/112,181 and 60/123,745 are hereby incorporated by reference. - The present invention relates to a portable or hand-held color display game machine and a storage medium for the game machine and, more particularly, to a portable color display game machine to which one of a first storage medium storing, for example, tone (gradation) data for monochrome (black-and-white) display, and a second storage medium storing, for example, color data for color display can be selectively attached, and the storage media.
- Portable game machines that use dot-matrix liquid crystal display devices for monochrome display are popular entertainment devices. An example of an 8-bit portable liquid crystal display-equipped game machine is the GAMEBOY® which is manufactured and sold by the assignee of this application. GAMEBOY is a registered trademark of Nintendo Co., Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan. The graphics of the GAMEBOY are created from blocks of pixels known as characters. Characters are typically 8 pixels wide and 8 pixels high (or 8 pixels wide and 16 pixels high) and are the smallest addressable unit of screen data for the GAMEBOY. Each pixel can be one of four shades of gray. Characters can be used to represent both background and object data. Backgrounds are groups of characters laid out like tiles to create the environment or background of a game. For backgrounds, a portion of memory corresponding to the screen is used to point to character data to be displayed at a given location. Objects are groups of character data that are used to represent the main game character and other moving objects that overlay the background in a game. Objects are sometimes referred to as “sprites”. Objects also occupy a range of memory pointing to character data, but in addition they have other attributes such as screen location and priority. Thus, characters are displayed in monochrome tones on the screen of the liquid crystal display.
- Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 7-204349 and counterpart U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,108 (the contents of which are incorporated herein) disclose a system in which a conversion device permits the use of a cartridge for one type of game machine with other different types of game machines. For example, the conversion device enables the display of originally monochrome images as color images. In this case, the conversion device is used with a game cartridge for a first type of game machine that displays monochrome images to generate image data for a second type of game machine capable of color display. This conventional technology makes it possible to display color images by providing the conversion device for color conversion processing between the cartridge and the second type of game machine.
- However, while representing an improvement which permits the use of game cartridges with different type of game systems, the system described in the '108 patent requires that the conversion device be connected between the second type of game machine and the cartridge in order to color-display monochrome images. Moreover, background images and object images are color-converted by using only one color palette, so that the displayable colors are considerably limited.
- Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a novel portable color display game machine.
- It is another object of the invention to provide a portable color display game machine capable of color-displaying game characters regardless of whether the storage medium used therewith is a monochrome game cartridge or a color game cartridge.
- It is still another object of the invention to provide portable color display game machine and a storage medium capable of color-displaying a background image and an object image using separate color palettes.
- In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a portable color display game machine includes a game cartridge type determining circuit configured to determine whether a color game cartridge storing color data for a game or a monochrome game cartridge storing monochrome data for a game is attached to the color display game machine. Color display generating circuitry is configured to generate a color game display based on the color data when the color game cartridge is attached to the color display game machine, and to generate a color game display based on the monochrome data when the monochrome game cartridge is attached to the color display game machine.
- According to this invention, a portable color display game machine is provided that allows selective use of both the game cartridges storing monochrome data and game cartridges storing color data. Thus, monochrome game cartridges, used for conventional portable monochrome display game machines, can also be used in color display game machines. This makes good use of conventional software resources and expands the types of software that can be used in color display game machines.
- In addition, separate color palettes may be set for the individual background characters and the individual object characters, making it possible to display color game images in many colors on the
color LCD 16 while using a relatively small amount of palette data. In addition, the processor of the portable color game machine may be set at one of a plurality of different clock speeds based on, for example, commands from the game program stored on the game cartridge. A higher clock speed improves performance when color games are used. A lower clock speed may be used for the color display of monochrome games to, for example, improve battery life. - Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will also become apparent from the detailed description of embodiments made hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:
- FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the mutually compatible correspondence between the monochrome-dedicated cartridge and the monochrome display game machine, and the color-ready cartridge and the color display game machine, to which the invention is directed;
- FIG. 2 is an overall block diagram of the color cartridge and the color display game machine according to an embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the accessible address spaces of the CPU;
- FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the memory map of the external ROM of the monochrome-dedicated cartridge (color-unready cartridge);
- FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the memory map of the external ROM of the color-ready cartridge;
- FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the detailed memory map of the color palette area;
- FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the memory map of the internal ROM;
- FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the detailed memory map of the color palette table area:
- FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating examples of the color-readiness code and the color-unreadiness code;
- FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating examples of the machine identification data;
- FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the memory map of the internal RAM;
- FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the memory map of the display RAM;
- FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the correspondence between the BG display area and the LCD display area;
- FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the main routine of the game operation according to the embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the initial setting subroutine;
- FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the game (color) processing subroutine;
- FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the CPU operation speed changing subroutine;
- FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating the color initial setting subroutine;
- FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating the color palette selecting subroutine.
- FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating the game (color) processing subroutine;
- FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of the color palette selecting window;
- FIG. 22 is an overall block diagram of the color cartridge and color display game machine according to another embodiment of the present invention; and
- FIG. 23 illustrates a circle displayed in a 2×2 character array.
- FIG. 1 shows a portable color display game machine (hereinafter, referred to simply as “color display game machine”)10 which displays game characters in color on a color liquid crystal display (LCD) 16 when a color-
ready game cartridge 12 or a monochrome-dedicatedgame cartridge 14 is selectively inserted into an insert opening or port thereof (not shown). - FIG. 1 also shows a portable monochrome display game machine (hereinafter, referred to simply as “monochrome display game machine”)18 which displays game characters on a
monochrome LCD 20 in four monochrome tones (gradations) when the color-ready game cartridge 12 or the monochrome-dedicatedgame cartridge 14 is selectively inserted into the insert opening or port thereof (not shown). - As will be described in greater detail below, the
color LCD 16 displays characters using, for example, up to a maximum of 56 colors if the color-ready game cartridge 12 is inserted into the colordisplay game machine 10. If the monochrome-dedicatedgame cartridge 14 is used with the colordisplay game machine 10, game characters are displayed using, for example, up to a maximum of ten colors. The colordisplay game machine 10 uses different color palettes and displays the game characters in different numbers of colors depending on whether the color-ready game cartridge 12 or the monochrome-dedicatedgame cartridge 14 is used. - With reference to FIG. 2, the color
display game machine 10 includes thecolor LCD 16 as described above. Thecolor LCD 16 is formed as a dot matrix display and is driven byLCD drivers LCD driver 22 selectively drives, for example, the rows of the dot matrix display and theLCD driver 24 selectively drives, for example, the columns of the dot matrix display. TheLCD drivers display processing circuit 28 included in a central processing unit (CPU) 26. - The
CPU 26 further includes aCPU core 30 which is connected to an internal read only memory (ROW 32 and an internal random access memory (RAM) 34. Theinternal ROM 32 includes various data areas that are shown in detail in FIG. 7. Theinternal RAM 34 is used as a work memory of theCPU core 30, and has storage areas that are shown in detail in FIG. 11. - The
CPU 26 further includes abasic oscillator 36. Thebasic oscillator 36 is formed of, for example, a quartz oscillator, and supplies an oscillating signal to aprogrammable frequency divider 38. Theprogrammable frequency divider 38 divides the oscillating signal from thebasic oscillator 36 in accordance with frequency division data from theCPU core 30, and supplies a divided signal as a clock of theCPU core 30. - A
connector 40 is connected to theCPU 26 by an appropriate bus. The color-ready game cartridge 12 or the monochrome-dedicatedgame cartridge 14 shown in FIG. 1 is selectively attached to theconnector 40. Each of thegame cartridges external ROM SRAM 46. In the case of themonochrome game cartridge 14, various data as shown in FIG. 4 are pre-stored in theexternal ROM 44. In theexternal ROM 42 of thecolor game cartridge 12, data shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is pre-stored. TheSRAM 46 of each game cartridge is used to store backup data of the game. - The
CPU 26 is supplied with operation signals from operating keys 48 a-48 e. The operating key 48 a is used to move a game character displayed on thecolor LCD 16 in four directions, that is, upward, downward, right and left. The operatingkey 48 b is a select key that is used for, for example, game mode selection and the like. The operatingkey 48 c is a so-called start key that is used to start playing the game or to temporarily stop the progress of the game. The operatingkeys keys color LCD 16, for example, a weapon use, a jump and the like. The operating keys 48 a-48 e are disposed in a forward surface of the colordisplay game machine 10 as shown in FIG. 1. A key matrix (not shown) is provided for sending theCPU 26 the operation signals from the operating keys 48 a-48 e as controller data. - Color
display game machine 10 is powered by batteries (not shown). A power indicator LED (not shown) may dim as the batteries lose their charge, thereby providing a visual indication to the user that new batteries are needed. The colordisplay game machine 10 may also be configured for connection to an AC adapter to permit extended play without batteries. - In accordance with the game program, character data supplied from the
game cartridge CPU 26 executes data processing and writes display data into adisplay RAM 52, using an extendedRAM 50 when necessary. As indicated in FIG. 12, thedisplay RAM 52 has two banks, that is, a first bank and a second bank, and has, as a whole, a storage area that is greater than the display area of thecolor LCD 16, thereby enabling a scrolling display upward and downward and/or rightward and leftward on the screen of thecolor LCD 16. - As a result of the data processing by the
CPU 26, sound signals to be output are adjusted in level byvolume controls speaker 58 and/or anearphone jack 60. Sound signals output from thespeaker 58 and/or theearphone jack 60 include game sound effects, voices and music. - The address spaces of the
CPU 26 are shown in FIG. 3. When an internal/external ROM bank switching register R8 is “0”, the internal ROM 32 (FIG. 2) of theCPU 26 is accessed at addresses “0000H-00FFH” (where “H” indicates the use of hexadecimal notation) or “0200H-08FFH”, and theexternal ROM external ROM cartridge extended RAM 50, that is,bank 0, is allotted addresses “C000H-CFFFH”, and the other banks 1-7 are allotted addresses “D000H-DFFFG”. Theinternal RAM 34 of the CPU 26 (FIG. 2) is accessed at addresses “FE00H-FFFFH”. - FIG. 4 shows a memory map of the
external ROM 44 included in themonochrome game cartridge 14. Aregistration data area 44 a pre-stores logo data for verifying (in a manner described below) whether an inserted cartridge is a proper cartridge, and pre-stores the color-unreadiness code. Aprogram area 44 b stores the game program. Adata area 44 c includes background character data and object character data. In this embodiment, the color-unreadiness code is set as a code different from a color-readiness code. The color-unreadiness code may be, for example, “00000000”, as shown in FIG. 9. - As for the background character data, monochrome tone data (4 tones) and character codes are set separately for each of the individual background characters BG0-BGm. The object character data includes monochrome tone data (4 tones), coordinate data, character codes, attribute data and register designation data that are set separately for each of the individual object characters OBJ0-OBJn.
- FIG. 5 shows a memory map of the
external ROM 42 included in thecolor game cartridge 12. Aregistration data area 42 a pre-stores logo data similar to that stored inregistration data area 44 a in theexternal ROM 44 of themonochrome game cartridge 14, and the color-readiness code. Aprogram area 42 b stores the game program and a machine identification data determining program. The machine identification data determining program is a program for detecting a machine identification data shown in FIG. 10 and determining whether the cartridge is inserted into a monochromedisplay game machine 18 or into a colordisplay game machine 10. Adata area 42 c includes background character data and object character data. In this embodiment, “10000000”shown in FIG. 9 is set as the color-readiness code. Theexternal ROM 42 of thecolor game cartridge 12 further includes acolor palette area 42 d. - The background character data includes tone data (4 tones), character codes and attribute data that are set separately for each of the individual background characters BG0-BGm. The attribute data includes color palette designating data. The color palette designating data is data for designating one of eight color palettes set for the background characters. For each of these eight color palettes set for the background characters, four different colors are predetermined. The object character data includes tone data (4 tones), coordinate data, character codes and attribute data that are set for each of the individual object characters OBJ0-OBJn. The attribute data includes color palette designating data. The color palette designating data is data for designating one of eight color palettes set for the object characters. For each of these eight color palettes set for the object characters, three different colors are pre-determined.
- FIG. 6 shows the
color palette area 42 d of FIG. 5 in greater detail.Color palette area 42 d includes a background (BG) character color palette area 42dI and an object (OBJ) charactercolor palette area 42d 2. The BGcolor palette area 42d 1 includes the eight color palettes mentioned above, that is, BG color palettes 0-7, each of which includes four colors determined by palette data items 0-3. The OBJcolor palette area 42d 2 includes the eight color palettes mentioned above, that is, OBJ color palettes 0-7, each of which includes three colors determined by palette data items 0-2. Each palette data item is 2-byte (16-bit) data indicating a single color. - By setting color palettes separately for the individual background characters and setting color palettes separately for the individual object characters, it is possible to display color game images in many colors on the
color LCD 16 while using a relatively small amount of palette data. - Although it is indicated in FIG. 6 that the palette data items0-3 are set for the individual OBJ color palettes 0-7, it should be noted that the
palette data item 3 is set in theinternal RAM 34, not in theexternal ROM 42. - FIG. 7 shows a memory map of the
internal ROM 32 of theCPU 26 shown in FIG. 2. As in theexternal ROM cartridge internal ROM 32 includes aregistration data area 32 a, aprogram area 32 b, adata area 32 c and a colorpalette table area 32 d. Pre-stored in theregistration data area 32 a are logo data for verifying the authorization of thegame cartridge external ROM display game machine 18 shown in FIG. 1, and machine identification data of “11111111” is set in another model thereof. - Referring back to FIG. 7, the
program area 32 b includes an initializing program illustrated in detail in FIG. 15 and a color palette selecting program illustrated in detail in FIG. 19. The initializing program, simply described, is a program for verifying the authorization of a cartridge. According to the program, it is determined whether the logo data set in theregistration data area external ROM registration data area 32 a of theinternal ROM 32. If they conform, the use of the cartridge is permitted. - The color palette selecting program is a program that displays a color
palette selecting window 16A on the color LCD 16 (FIG. 1 or 2) as shown in FIG. 21, so that one of the monochrome game cartridge color palette areas 1-L can be selected for use. The data for displaying the color palette selecting window is set in thedata area 32 c. - The color
palette table area 32 d is formed of color palette areas that include color data to be displayed in the colorpalette selecting window 16A arid 16B (FIG. 21) and agame screen 16C (FIG. 21). As illustrated in detail in FIG. 8, the colorpalette table area 32 d includes acolor palette area 32d 1 for displaying the color palette selecting window, and monochrome game cartridgecolor palette areas 32 d 21-32 d 2L (where L is an arbitrary number). Thecolor palette area 32d 1 for displaying the color palette selecting window includes a background (BG)color palette 32d 11 and an object (OBJ)color palette 32d 12. In each of the BG and OBJ color palette areas, palette data 0-3 are set. For each of the monochrome game cartridgecolor palette areas 32 d 21-32 d 2L, a background (BG) color palette and two object (OBJ)color palettes - The
display RAM 52 forms a display memory for displaying the background characters as described above. In this embodiment, two display memories are formed. As indicated in FIGS. 12 and 13, each display memory has a storage capacity corresponding to a number of blocks (e.g., 1024) that is considerably greater than the number of blocks displayable by the color LCD 16 (e.g., 360). Therefore, the game image displayed on thecolor LCD 16 can be smoothly scrolled. Thedisplay RAM 52 has two banks, each of which includes two display memories. Character data of the background characters developed into dot data and attribute data for each block are written into each bank. The “block”is a 64-dot area formed as 8×8 dots in the screen of thecolor LCD 16. - Referring to a main routine of the game operation illustrated in FIG. 14, when the
game cartridge display game machine 10 in step S1, the CPU 26 (or more specifically, theCPU core 30 shown in FIG. 2) executes an initial set-up routine in step S2. - In the initial setting routine illustrated in FIG. 15, in the starting steps S21, S22 and S23, the CPU 26 (CPU core 30) initializes the
registration area 34 c of the internal RAM 34 (FIG. 11); clears theOBJ data area 34 a of theinternal RAM 34, thedisplay RAM 52 and the extended W-RAM 50: and initializes thecolor palette area 34 b. Subsequently in step S24, the CPU 26 (CPU core 30) reads the logo data from theregistration data area external ROM color LCD 16. Of course, arbitrary logo data may be used and the logo data for “NINTENDO” is merely provided by way of illustration, not limitation. - Subsequently in step S26, the
CPU 26 reads out the logo data set in theregistration data area 32 a of theinternal ROM 32, and compares the logo data with the logo data read from theexternal ROM CPU 26 determines a complement of the total of the registration data set in theregistration data area external ROM registration data area external ROM - Steps S26 and S27 are steps for verifying whether the game cartridge inserted into the color
display game machine 10 is a proper or valid cartridge. These steps are executed by the initializing program set in theprogram area 32 b of theinternal ROM 32 shown in FIG. 7. If the determination in either step S26 or step S27 is negative, it means that the cartridge is improper or invalid. In this case, theCPU 26 executes error processing in step S28, so as to enter an infinite loop in theinternal ROM 32. Therefore, the game is not started. Consequently, if an improper or invalid cartridge is inserted into the colordisplay game machine 10, the use of the cartridge is rejected. In this manner, use of improper or counterfeit game cartridges is excluded. - If an affirmative determination is made in both steps S26 and S27, it is determined that the presently inserted cartridge is a proper or valid game cartridge. and operation returns to the main routine illustrated in FIG. 14.
- In step S3 of the main routine, the
CPU 26 determines whether the inserted game cartridge is a “color-ready”game cartridge 12 or a “color-unready” (monochrome)game cartridge 14. Since each game cartridge has a color-readiness code or a color-unreadiness code pre-set in theregistration data area CPU 26 needs only to read out the code and determine whether at least the highest order bit of the code is “1” or “0” in step S3. If the color-unreadiness code “0” is detected in step S3, theCPU 26 determines that themonochrome game cartridge 14 is presently inserted. If the color-readiness code “1” is detected in step S3, theCPU 26 determines that thecolor game cartridge 12 is presently inserted. - If the
color game cartridge 12 is inserted, the game processing (including color processing) is performed in step S4. In the first step S41 of the game (color) processing routine illustrated in FIG. 16, theCPU 26 reads background (BG) color palettes and object (OBJ) color palettes from thecolor palette area 42 d of theexternal ROM 42, and transfers the color palettes to the color palette area 34 d of theinternal RAM 34. In step S42, theCPU 26 reads the OBJ data of each object character to be presently displayed from thedata area 42 c of theexternal ROM 42 in accordance with the game program. The OBJ data is written into theOBJ data area 34 a of theinternal RAM 34. Furthermore, in step S43, the character code of each background character to be presently displayed is transferred to the BG display area of thedisplay RAM 52. Subsequently in step S44, theCPU 26 switches the bank of thedisplay RAM 52 tobank 1, and writes the attribute data included in the BG data into separate blocks. - Then in step S45, each background (BG) character is displayed in color on the
color LCD 16 by using the BG color palette designated by the color palette designating data included in the attribute data transferred to thedisplay RAM 52. Furthermore, in step S46, each object (OBJ) character is displayed in color on thecolor LCD 16 by using the OBJ color palette designated by the color palette designating data included in the OBJ data transferred to theinternal RAM 34. - In reality, steps S45 and S46 are executed through hardware processing performed by the color display processing circuit 28 (FIG. 2) included in the
CPU 26. In FIG. 16, therefore, steps S45 and S46 are indicated by broken lines. In FIG. 16, the actual game processing (for example, impact determination, score processing and the like) executed by the game program is omitted since such processing is well-known and is not directly related to the invention. - Returning to FIG. 14, in step S5, the
CPU 26 determines whether a change of the CPU operation speed is instructed by the game program. If there is a speed changing instruction, a speed changing routine illustrated in FIG. 17 is executed in step S6. In the first step 551 of the CPU operation speed changing routine, a speed changing signal (data) is set in a CPU operation speed register R5 included in theregister area 34 c of theinternal RAM 34. Subsequently in step S52, a frequency division ratio in accordance with the speed changing signal is set in theprogrammable frequency divider 38 to change the system clock frequency. Therefore, in step S53 and the following steps, theCPU 26 operates in accordance with the thus-changed operation speed. That is, in step S7 and the following steps in the main routine, the game (color) processing is executed at the changed CPU operation speed. - In the above-described operation, if the inserted cartridge is a color game cartridge, the CPU operation speed is generally changed in steps S6 and S7 so that the processing speed becomes higher (e.g., 2.10 MHz) than the speed in the case of the use of a monochrome game cartridge (e.g., 1.05 MHz). This speed change is performed in order to prevent sluggish processing due to an increased number of displayable colors, that is, an increased amount of data. The higher processing speed allows for more elaborate games with better artificial intelligence and more complex game engines.
- If game-over is detected in the game (color) processing, that is, in step S8, the main routine of the game operation ends.
- If it is determined in step S3 that the inserted cartridge is
monochrome game cartridge 14, color initial setting processing is performed in step S9. - In the first step S91 in the color initial setting routine illustrated in FIG. 18, the CPU. 26 (CPU core 30) sets a monochrome game cartridge mode in a CPU mode register R4 formed in the
register area 34 c of theinternal RAM 34. Subsequently in step S92, the color palette corresponding to the inserted monochrome cartridge is read from thecolor palette areas 32 d 21-32 d 2L in theinternal ROM 32, and written into thecolor palette area 34 a in theinternal RAM 34. - More specifically, in step S121 of the game (color) processing routine (FIG. 20) executed in step S12, the
CPU 26 writes the BG tone data set in thedata area 44 c of theexternal ROM 44 into the BG tone palette register R1, and writes the OBJ tone data set in thedata area 44 c of theexternal ROM 44 into the OBJ0 tone palette register R2 or the OBJ1 tone palette register R3. In step S122, theCPU 26 reads the OBJ data of the object character that needs to be presently displayed out of thedata area 44c of theexternal ROM 44, and writes the OBJ data into theOBJ data area 34 a of theinternal RAM 34, in accordance with the game program. Subsequently in step S 123, the character code of the background character that needs to be presently displayed is transferred to the BG display data area of thedisplay RAM 52. - After the setting of a given monochrome game cartridge color palette and the BG tone data and the OBJ tone data into the
internal RAM 34 in the above-described manner, the color display processing circuit 28 (FIG. 2) color-displays the background (BG) character on thecolor LCD 16 by using the colors set in theBG color palette 0, on the basis of the tone data written in the BG gradation palette register R1, in step S124. Subsequently in step S125, the colordisplay processing circuit 28 displays in color the object (OBJ) character on thecolor LCD 16 by using the colors set in theOBJ color palette 0 or theOBJ color palette 1, on the basis of the tone data written in the OBJO gradation palette register R2 or the OBJ1 palette register R3, in accordance with the register designation data set in thedata area 44 c of theexternal ROM 44. - In every execution of the main routine, it is determined in step S10 whether a color palette changing request is inputted by a user or player. In this embodiment, if any two of the operating keys 48 a-48 e are simultaneously pressed, it is assumed that the color palette changing request has been inputted, and processing is accordingly performed. That is, if the simultaneous pressing of two keys is detected in step S10, a color palette selecting routine in step S11 is performed.
- In step111 of the color palette selecting routine illustrated in FIG. 19, a hardware interrupt is inputted by the simultaneous pressing of two operating keys. Subsequently in step S112, the background (BG) data of the color palette selecting window set in the
data area 32 c of theinternal ROM 32 is transferred to thedisplay RAM 52 in accordance with the color palette selecting program set in theprogram area 32 b of theinternal ROM 32, so that thewindow 16A and thecursor 16B shown in FIG. 21 are displayed on thecolor LCD 16. - Subsequently in step S114, the
CPU 26 determines whether a color palette has been selected by the user or player. Since the user or player uses one of the operating keys 48 a-48 e to select a color palette, theCPU 26 can determine whether a color palette has been selected, by determining whether the operating key concerned has been operated. - If the user or player selects a color palette, the determination in step S114 becomes affirmative. Subsequently in step S115, the
CPU 26 changes the palette (color) data in theBG color palette 0, theOBJ color palette 0 and theOBJ color palette 1 in thecolor palette area 34 b of theinternal RAM 34, in accordance with the selected palette data. Subsequently in step S116, the palette data changed in step S115; that is, theBG color palette 0, theOBJ color palette 0 or theOBJ color palette 1, are written into thecolor palette area 34 b of theinternal RAM 34, by using the color palette writing designation registers R10 and R11, so that the colors of the color palette selected by the user are displayed in thewindow 16A shown in FIG. 21. - Subsequently, if it is determined in step S117 that a decision button has been pressed, or that the color palette selected has been canceled by the user or player, the
CPU 26 stops displaying thewindow 16A and thecursor 16B in step S118, and cancels the hardware interruption in step S119. - In this manner, it is possible for the user or player to appropriately change or select the color palettes, that is. the BG color palette and the OBJ color palettes, which are to be displayed in accordance with the monochrome tone data, during execution of the game using the
monochrome game cartridge 14. - Therefore, in the game (color) processing routine executed following step S11 (FIG. 14), the BG and OBJ characters are color-displayed in accordance with the color palettes selected by the user.
- However, in a case where the
color game cartridge 12 is inserted into the monochromedisplay game machine 18, it should be understood that only the BG tone (gradation) data and the OBJ tone (gradation) data in thedata area 42 c are used, so that each character is displayed in monochrome tones. - Of course, routines other than the routine described above may be provided to permit user selection of a color palette. For example, the color display game machine may be configured to permit selection of different color palettes for the color-display operation for monochrome cartridges when the game machine is first turned on. A color palette may be selected (with reference to a user's manual, for example) by pressing various ones or combinations of the operating keys48 a-48 e when the logo data is displayed on
screen 16 after the game machine is turned on. For example, one of twelve different color palettes may be selected using the following keys or key combinations:PRESS COLOR PRESS COLOR Up (using 48a) Brown Left (using 48a) Blue Up + 48e Red Left + 48e Dark Blue Up + 48d Dark Brown Left + 48d Gray Down (using 48a) Pale Yellow Right (using 48a) Green Down + 48e Orange Right + 48e Dark Green Down + 48d Yellow Right + 48d Reverse - Thus, by simultaneously pressing “Up” using the cross key48 a and key 48 e,the “Red” color palette may be selected. Of course, other keys and key combinations and different color palettes may be utilized and the above examples are provided by way of illustration, not limitation. In this particular implementation, the color palette may not be changed, for example, after the game title screen appears. This may, for example, avoid accidentally changing the color palette during game play.
- FIG. 22 is an overall block diagram of the color cartridge and color display game machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the color
display game machine 10 is provided with aserial Port 72 and anIR communications port 74. Theserial port 72 allows connections to other game machines for multi-player games, to a printer, or to the Internet. TheIR communications port 74 provides for data transfer from one game machine to another without the need for a wired connection between the machines. In order to provide compatibility, the lower processing speed of the color display game machine may be set when the color display game machine is connected via theserial port 72 to a game machine which utilizes the lower processing speed. - Color
display game machine 10 may be configured to provide background character mirroring in order to reduce data redundancy, thereby saving space in the video RAM or in the game cartridge. Character mirroring involves flipping a character about a vertical and/or horizontal axis. For example, FIG. 23 shows a circle that is displayed using four (2×2) characters 81-84. Without character mirroring, the video RAM would store for each character 81-84 the data for that character's portion of the circle. It can be seen. however, that the circle can be generated by “mirroring” or flipping operations involving one of the characters 81-84, saycharacter 81. Thus, rather than storing the four characters 81-84 making up the circle, the video RAM or game cartridge may store one of the four characters along with certain flags indicative of mirroring or flipping operations required to generate the circle. This obviously saves space in the video RAM or game cartridge. For example, the video RAM of the color display game machine can hold up to some predetermined number of characters at any one time. These characters are used to create the various objects and the various backgrounds. By reducing the number of characters required to generate some of the backgrounds using mirroring, space in the video RAM becomes available for the display of even more elaborate and detailed screens. - Color
display game machine 10 may be configured to utilize direct memory access during the horizontal and/or vertical blanking periods in order to transfer data to the screen more quickly. Specifically, this direct memory access allows graphic data to be sent directly from a game cartridge to the video RAM of the color display game machine. The microprocessor is freed from involvement with the data transfer, thus speeding up overall operation. This is an advantage in supporting the additional data required for color display, but also provides smoother scrolling and better animation. In one implementation, the direct memory access operation occurs at the higher clock speed regardless of the currently set speed of the microprocessor. As an example, suppose a screen has 154 lines of which 145 are for display and the remaining 9 correspond to the vertical blanking period. 2048 total bytes may be transferred from the game cartridge to the video RAM during the 145 horizontal blanking periods (one blanking period for each of the display lines) and 2048 total bytes may be transferred to the video RAM during the 9 full lines corresponding to the vertical blanking period. - As noted above, either monochrome or color game cartridges may be used with color
display game machine 10. So-called dual mode game cartridges are also usable with colordisplay game machine 10. These game cartridges are “dual mode” because they can also be used with monochromedisplay game machine 18. In one implementation, a single dual mode cartridge has two game programs and two sets of screen data. One game program and set of screen data is for use with the monochromedisplay game machine 18 and the other game program and set of screen data is for use with the colordisplay game machine 10. A small bootstrap or start-up program determines which type of game machine is being used and launches the appropriate game program. In another implementation, the dual mode cartridge stores a core game program which is executed regardless of which type of video game machine is used. Artwork and certain functions and subroutines are substituted during the game depending on whether the game is running on a color display game machine or a monochrome display game machine. - While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims (24)
1. A portable color display game machine to which both a first storage medium and a second storage medium are selectively attachable, said portable color display game machine comprising:
a storage medium discriminator for making a first determination when the first storage medium is attached, and making a second determination when the second storage medium is attached;
color processing circuitry for performing first color processing on data read from the first storage medium in response to the first determination and outputting a first color display signal, and for performing second color processing on data read from the second storage medium in response to the second determination and outputting a second color display signal; and
a color display for displaying the first color display signal when the first storage medium is attached to said portable color display game machine and the second color display signal when the second storage medium is attached to said portable color display game machine.
2. The portable color display game machine according to claim 1 , wherein
the first storage medium stores tone data, and
said color processing circuitry includes a first color palette for converting the tone data into the first color display signal.
3. The portable color display game machine according to claim 1 , wherein
the second storage medium stores color data, and
said color processing circuitry includes a second color palette for converting the color data into the second color display signal.
4. The portable color display game machine according to claim 3 , wherein the first color palette consists of a first number of colors, and the second color palette consists of a second number of colors that is greater than the first number.
5. The portable color display game machine according to claim 4 , wherein the first color palette includes a background character color palette used to color-display a background character, and an object character color palette used to color-display an object character.
6. The portable color display game machine according to claim 5 , wherein the first object character color palette comprises a plurality of color palettes.
7. The portable color display game machine according to claim 4 , wherein the second color palette includes a background character color palette used to color-display a background character, and an object character color palette used to color-display an object character.
8. The portable color display game machine according to claim 7 , wherein the background character color palette of the second color palette comprises a plurality of background color palettes, and the object character color palette of the second color palette comprises a plurality of object color palettes.
9. A storage medium for a portable game machine, said storage medium being removably attachable to said portable game machine so as to supply data and a program to an image processor of said portable game machine, said storage medium being characterized in that both tone data and color data are pre-stored for image display, and one of the tone data and the color data is selectively processed by said image processor of said portable game machine.
10. The storage medium according to claim 9 , wherein
the color data includes color palette data, and
said image processor of said portable game machine outputs a display signal comprising a background character image and a display signal comprising an object character image, and
the color palette data includes background color palette data used for the background character image and object color palette data used for the object character image.
11. A storage medium storing a program for color display and a Portable color display game machine using the storage medium, wherein
said storage medium includes a background image color palette data storage area for storing different kinds of color palette data for a background image, an object image color palette data storage area for storing different kinds of color palette data for an object image, and a color palette designating data storage area for storing background image color palette designating data that designates an arbitrary color palette for each character in the background image, and object image color palette designating data that designates an arbitrary color palette for each character in the object image, and
said portable color display game machine includes a color image signal generator for generating a background color image signal based on the background image color palette data designated by the background image color palette designating data, and for generating an object color image signal based on the object image color palette data designated by the object image color palette designating data.
12. A color display game machine to which one of a first storage medium storing a program for monochrome display and a second storage medium storing a program for color display is selectively attachable, wherein
said first storage medium includes a background image tone data storage area for storing tone data of a background image, and an object image tone data storage area for storing tone data of an object image,
said second storage medium includes a background image color palette data storage area for storing different kinds of color palette data for the background image, an object color palette data storage area for storing different kinds of color palette data for the object image, and a color palette designating data storage area for storing background image color palette designating data that designates a color palette for each character in the background image, and object image color palette designating data that designates a color palette for each character in the object image, and
one of the first storage medium and the second storage medium includes a color-readiness data storage area for storing data that indicates color unreadiness or data that indicates color readiness, and
said color display game machine comprises:
a storage medium discriminator for determining whether a storage medium attached to the game machine is said first storage medium or said second storage medium, on the basis of the data stored in the color-readiness storage area;
a background image color palette storage area for storing background image color palette data corresponding to the background image tone data stored in said first storage medium;
an object image color palette storage area for storing object image color palette data corresponding to the object image tone data stored in said first storage medium; and
a color image signal generator for generating a color image for the background image and for the object image,
wherein if it is determined by said storage medium discriminator that said first storage medium is attached, said color image signal generator generates the color image signal for the background image on the basis of a combination of the background image tone data and the background image color palette data, and generates the color image signal for the object image on the basis of a combination of the object image tone data and the object image color palette data, and if it is determined by said storage medium discriminator that said second storage medium is attached, said color image signal generator generates the color image signal for the background image on the basis of the background image color palette data designated by the background image color palette designating data, and generates the color image signal for the object image on the basis of the object image color palette data designated by the object image color palette designating data.
13. The color display game machine according to claim 12 , wherein
the object image color palette storage area stores first object image color palette data and second object image color palette data, and
the first storage medium further stores color palette designating data that designates color palette data for the object image, and
if the first object image color palette is selected on the basis of the color palette designating data, said color image signal generator generating the color image signal for the object image on the basis of a combination of the object image tone data and the first object image color palette, and if the second object image color palette is selected on the basis of the color palette designating data, said color image signal generator generates the color image signal for the object image on the basis of a combination of the object image tone data and the second object image color palette.
14. The color display game machine according to claim 13 , further comprising:
a user input circuit operable by a user; and
a color palette changing circuit for changing the background image color palette data and the object image color palette data on the basis of color palette data selected by the user using said user input circuit,
said color image signal generator generating the color image signal for the background image on the basis of a combination of the background image tone data and the background image color palette data changed by said color palette changing circuit, and generating the color image signal for the object image on the basis of a combination of the object image tone data and the object image color palette data changed by said color palette changing circuit.
15. A portable color display game machine comprising:
a game cartridge type determining circuit configured to determine whether a color game cartridge storing color data for a game or a monochrome game cartridge storing monochrome data for a game is attached to said color display game machine; and
color display generating circuitry configured to generate a color game display based on the color data when said color game cartridge is attached to said color display game machine, and to generate a color game display based on the monochrome data when said monochrome game cartridge is attached to said color display game machine.
16. The portable color display game machine according to claim 15 , further comprising:
a palette selection circuit configured for user-selection of one of a plurality of different color palettes to be used by said color display generating circuitry to generate a color game display based on the monochrome data.
17. The portable color display game machine according to claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of different color palettes to be used by said color display generating circuitry to generate a color game display based on the monochrome data comprises a background color palette and one or more object color palettes.
18. The portable color display game machine according to claim 15 , wherein said color display generating circuitry comprises a processor operable at two or more different clock speeds.
19. The portable color display game machine according to claim 15 , wherein said color display generating circuitry generates a color game display based on color data comprising a first color palette for background characters and a second different color palette for object characters when said color game cartridge is attached to said portable color display game machine.
20. The portable color display game machine according to claim 15 , wherein said game cartridge type determining circuit determines whether a color game cartridge storing color data for a game or a monochrome game cartridge storing monochrome data for a game is attached to said color display game machine on the basis of color readiness/unreadiness data read from said game cartridges.
21. A game program storage medium for use with a portable game machine having a processor operable at a plurality of different clock speeds, said game program storage medium storing clock speed data usable by said portable game machine in a process for setting a clock speed of said processor.
22. For use with a portable game machine having a game program executing processing system including a microprocessor to execute a video game program and player controls operable by a player to generate video game control signals; a portable storage device for controlling the operation of said portable game machine comprising:
a memory media for storing video game instructions and graphics and sound data for said video game program; and
a connector for coupling said video game instructions and said graphics and sound data retrieved from said memory media to said portable game machine,
said video game instructions including a command for causing said microprocessor to be set at one of a plurality of different clock speeds.
23. A portable color display game machine comprising:
an external memory for storing a video game program;
player controls operable by a player for generating video game control signals;
a color display panel;
a processing system for executing said video game program in accordance with the video game control signals; and
a palette selection circuit configured for user-selection of one of a plurality of different color palettes,
wherein said processing system is configured to determine whether said external memory stores color data or monochrome data for the video game program and to generate a color display on said color display panel based on the color data if said external memory stores color data and to generate a color display on said color display panel based on the monochrome data and the selected color palette if said external memory stores monochrome data.
24. The portable color display machine according to claim 23 , wherein said video game program of said external memory includes a command for causing said processing system to be set at one of a plurality of different clock speeds.
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20050020361A1 (en) | 2005-01-27 |
US7137894B2 (en) | 2006-11-21 |
US6322447B1 (en) | 2001-11-27 |
US6315669B1 (en) | 2001-11-13 |
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