System and method for rendering game pieces

Abstract

A game-piece rendering system includes a plurality of game cards each storing predetermined machine-readable data, and a game host unit. The game host unit includes: a game card reader for reading the machine-readable data stored on the game cards; a processor coupled to the game card reader and executing a rendering program to generate a game screen based on the machine-readable data read by the game card reader, the game screen including a plurality of virtual game pieces corresponding respectively to the game cards read by the game card reader; and a touchscreen display coupled to the processor and displaying the game screen. The processor performs control such that the virtual game pieces are selected and manipulated on the touchscreen display in response to a user touching the touchscreen display. A game-piece rendering method is also disclosed.

1 . A game-piece rendering system, comprising:
 a plurality of game cards each storing predetermined machine-readable data; and   a game host unit including
 a game card reader for reading the machine-readable data stored on said game cards, 
 a processor coupled to said game card reader and executing a rendering program to generate a game screen based on the machine-readable data read by said game card reader, the game screen including a plurality of virtual game pieces corresponding respectively to said game cards read by said game card reader, and 
 a touchscreen display coupled to said processor and displaying the game screen; 
   wherein said processor performs control such that the virtual game pieces are selected and manipulated on said touchscreen display in response to a user touching said touchscreen display.   
   
   
       2 . The game-piece rendering system of  claim 1 , wherein said game card reader of said game host unit includes a plurality of insert slots for insertion of said game cards, respectively. 
   
   
       3 . The game-piece rendering system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable data is stored on each of said game cards using electrically conductive printing ink, and said game card reader of said game host unit is an electrically conductive printing ink reader. 
   
   
       4 . The game-piece rendering system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable data is stored on each of said game cards using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and said game card reader of said game host unit is a RFID reader. 
   
   
       5 . The game-piece rendering system of  claim 1 , wherein in response to detection of touching of one of the virtual game pieces on said touchscreen display and subsequent touching of a desired position on said touchscreen display, said processor performs control to move said one of the virtual game pieces from an initial position to the desired position in the touchscreen display. 
   
   
       6 . The game-piece rendering system of  claim 1 , wherein in response to detection of touching of one of the virtual game pieces on said touchscreen display and subsequent sliding of a finger of the user on said touchscreen display, said processor performs control such that said one of the virtual game pieces is caused to perform a predetermined action in a direction corresponding to that of sliding of the finger on said touchscreen display. 
   
   
       7 . A game-piece rendering system, comprising:
 a plurality of game cards each storing predetermined machine-readable data; and   a game host unit including
 a game card reader for reading the machine-readable data stored on said game cards, 
 a processor coupled to said game card reader and executing a rendering program to generate a game screen based on the machine-readable data read by said game card reader, the game screen including a plurality of virtual game pieces corresponding respectively to said game cards read by said game card reader, and 
 a display coupled to said process or and displaying the game screen; 
   wherein said game card reader is one of an electromagnetism-based game card reader and a radio frequency-based game card reader.   
   
   
       8 . The game-piece rendering system of  claim 7 , wherein said game card reader of said game host unit includes a plurality of insert slots for insertion of said game cards, respectively. 
   
   
       9 . The game-piece rendering system of  claim 7 , wherein the machine-readable data is stored on each of said game cards using electrically conductive printing ink, and said game card reader of said game host unit is an electrically conductive printing ink reader. 
   
   
       10 . The game-piece rendering system of  claim 7 , wherein the machine-readable data is stored on each of said game cards using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and said game card reader of said game host unit is a RFID reader. 
   
   
       11 . A game-piece rendering method, comprising:
 a) providing a plurality of game cards each storing predetermined machine-readable data, and a game host unit which includes a game card reader, a processor coupled to the game card reader, and a touchscreen display coupled to the processor;   b) reading the machine-readable data stored on the game cards using the game card reader;   c) generating a game screen using the processor based on the machine-readable data read by the game card reader, the game screen including a plurality of virtual game pieces corresponding respectively to the game cards read by the game card reader;   d) displaying the game screen on the touchscreen display; and   e) selecting and manipulating the virtual game pieces using the processor in response to a user touching the touchscreen display.   
   
   
       12 . The game-piece rendering method of  claim 11 , wherein the game card reader of the game host unit includes a plurality of insert slots for insertion of the game cards, respectively. 
   
   
       13 . The game-piece rendering method of  claim 11 , wherein the machine-readable data is stored on each of the game cards using electrically conductive printing ink, and the game card reader of the game host unit is an electrically conductive printing ink reader. 
   
   
       14 . The game-piece rendering method of  claim 11 , wherein the machine-readable data is stored on each of the game cards using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and the game card reader of the game host unit is a RFID reader. 
   
   
       15 . The game-piece rendering method of  claim 11 , wherein, in step e), in response to detection of touching of one of the virtual game pieces on the touchscreen display and subsequent touching of a desired position on the touchscreen display, the processor performs control to move said one of the virtual game pieces from an initial position to the desired position in the touchscreen display. 
   
   
       16 . The game-piece rendering method of  claim 11 , wherein, in step e), in response to detection of touching of one of the virtual game pieces on the touchscreen display and subsequent sliding of a finger of the user on the touchscreen display, the processor performs control such that said one of the virtual game pieces is caused to perform a predetermined action in a direction corresponding to that of sliding of the finger on the touchscreen display. 
   
   
       17 . A game-piece rendering method, comprising:
 a) providing a plurality of game cards each storing predetermined machine-readable data, and a game host unit which includes a game card reader, a processor coupled to the game card reader, and a display coupled to the processor;   b) reading the machine-readable data stored on the game cards using the game card reader;   c) generating a game screen using the processor based on the machine-readable data read by the game card reader, the game screen including a plurality of virtual game pieces corresponding respectively to the game cards read by the game card reader; and   d) displaying the game screen on the display;   wherein the game card reader is one of an electromagnetism-based game card reader and a radio frequency-based game card reader.   
   
   
       18 . The game-piece rendering method of  claim 17 , wherein the game card reader of the game host unit includes a plurality of insert slots for insertion of the game cards, respectively. 
   
   
       19 . The game-piece rendering method of  claim 17 , wherein the machine-readable data is stored on each of the game cards using electrically conductive printing ink, and the game card reader of the game host unit is an electrically conductive printing ink reader. 
   
   
       20 . The game-piece rendering method of  claim 17 , wherein the machine-readable data is stored on each of the game cards using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and the game card reader of the game host unit is a RFID reader.