Drop slot game machine

Abstract

The present invention is a game machine comprising a playing field having an upper interior edge and a lower interior edge with at least one drop zone deflector located adjacent to the upper interior edge of the playing field. The present invention also has a number of exit positions located along the lower interior edge of the playing field. A payline display and a payline symbol selector display are also part of the present invention. Balls passing through the exit positions select symbols for display in the payline display determined in part upon the movement of a ball on said playing field. The game also has a ball ejector capable of propelling a ball in a path that intersects the drop zone deflector.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to an electro-mechanical gaming machine, and more particularly to a combination slot machine and pachenko game machine which has drop zones created by zone deflectors and scoring positions which vary from game to game. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Slot machines have been a dominant part of the gaming industry world wide for over 50 years. While pachenko machines have seen a great deal of popularity in Asia, they are not as well suited for gaming as the traditional slot machine. [0003] Slot machines have changed very little over the years. Whether mechanical or electronic, they still have reels spinning and coming to stop on a potential jackpot. It appears that a large part of the appeal of slot machines is the “mechanical” nature of the spinning reels which induces a belief in players that they are witnessing a truly random event and that the “big” jackpot is always just around the corner. While the big jack...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018] The present invention also creates a perception of skill, by being able to select drop zones, a player can exert a distinct influence on the outcome (not at all present in current slot machines). In reality, the percentages will run the same, but there is little doubt that the perception of skill on the player's behalf will exist.

[0021] The machine of the present invention also allows for a greater number of symbols to be displayed than a traditional, reel based, slot machine. The reel based machines are limited to displaying the number of symbols that can be fit on the reel. In a three (3) reel machine with eleven (11) symbols per reel there are 1331 possible combinations that can ever be displayed on the payline. In the present invention it is easy to store many symbols for electronic display. In a machine with eight (8) exit positions and 25 possible symbols per exit position there are over 150 billion combinations for display on the exit position display. This larger number of possible combinations makes it possible for the present invention to payout over a larger range of combinations and would allow a single machine to have the potential to payout a very large jackpot.

[0022] The present invention should have a very wide appeal to the gaming establishments as it has an overtly visible “mechanical” element, balls launching and freely dropping through the playing field, yet very low maintenance. The maintenance is low because other than simple mechanical switches and a ball ejecting system, the machine is dependent on non-mechanical hardware and software for most of its operation.

Problems solved by technology

While pachenko machines have seen a great deal of popularity in Asia, they are not as well suited for gaming as the traditional slot machine.

Even though the new machines simulated the mechanical slots in every way and used the same random number generating circuit and yielded the same percentages as the mechanical slot machines, they were less attractive to the gaming public.

The biggest problem with the mechanical or electronic slot machines that have mechanical reels is that they have higher mechanical maintenance costs than machines with video displays in place of spinning reels.

While prior art machines that replaced the spinning reels with video displays had lower mechanical maintenance costs they were also less attractive to gamers.

Another problem with traditional slot machines is their size, due to the space requirements of the mechanical reels.

Traditional slot machines take up a great deal of floor space and are generally not well suited to being wall mounted.

Yet another problem with traditional slot machines is the limited number of possible combinations of symbols limits the size of a jackpot that can be offered.

Finally, the very randomness which makes slot machines attractive also deters some people from playing them because they do not perceive there to be any skill involved in playing the game.

Too much interactivity, such as that involved with video and pinball games, would slow down the cycle rate of the machines to an unacceptable level.

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