Game support server, game apparatus, game support system, and game support method for supporting user of game apparatus

Abstract

A game support server comprises: a skill level acquisition unit which acquires a skill level indicating the user's game skill degree; a game database which stores standard times required for game play on the game apparatus; a recommendation request receiving unit which acquires, from the game apparatus, desired time which the user wishes to spend playing a game, and receives a request to recommend games matching the desired time; a recommended candidate extraction unit which modifies the standard time according to the acquired user's skill level to calculate estimated time required for user game play, and extracts, as recommended candidates from the game database, games if the difference between the estimated time and the desired time is a predetermined value or less; and a recommended candidate presenting unit which presents the extracted games to the game apparatus.

1 . A game support server comprising:
 a skill level acquisition unit configured to acquire, from a first game apparatus, a skill level that indicates a user's degree of skill in a game;   a game database configured to store a standard time required to play a game;   a recommendation request receiving unit configured to acquire, from a second game apparatus, a desired time period that the user wishes to spend playing a game, and to receive a request to recommend at least one candidate game that matches the desired time;   a recommended candidate extraction unit configured to modify the standard time according to a user's skill level acquired by the skill level acquisition unit so as to calculate an estimated time that is an estimate of time to be required for the user to play a game, and to extract, as a recommended candidate game from the game database, a game if the difference between the estimated time and the desired time is less than or equal to a predetermined value; and   a recommended candidate presenting unit configured to present to the second game apparatus the recommended candidate game thus extracted by the recommended candidate extraction unit.   
     
     
         2 . A game support server according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a play history acquisition unit configured to acquire a play history of a game played by the user via the first game apparatus; and   a skill level calculation unit configured to calculate the user's skill level based upon the user's play history acquired by the play history acquisition unit.   
     
     
         3 . A game support server according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a play history acquisition unit configured to acquire a play history of a game played by the user via the second game apparatus; and   a play time calculation unit configured to calculate the standard time required for game play based upon the user's play history acquired by the play history acquisition unit.   
     
     
         4 . A game support server according to  claim 1 , further comprising a user database configured to store the user's skill level; and
 a user registration unit configured to register, in the user database, the user's skill level received from the user,   wherein the skill level acquisition unit is configured to acquire the user's skill level from the user database.   
     
     
         5 . A game support server according to  claim 1 , wherein the skill level acquisition unit is configured to acquire, from the second game apparatus, the user's skill level received from the user every time the recommendation request receiving unit receives a game recommendation request from the second game apparatus. 
     
     
         6 . A game support method comprising:
 acquiring, by a skill level acquisition unit included in a computer, a skill level that indicates a user's degree of skill in a game from a first game apparatus;   acquiring, by a recommendation request receiving unit included in the computer, a desired time that the user wishes to spend playing a game, and receiving a request to recommend candidate games that match the desired time from a second game apparatus;   modifying, by a recommended candidate extraction unit included in the computer, the standard time according to the acquired user's skill level with reference to a game database storing a standard time required for game play so as to calculate an estimated time that is an estimate of time required for the user to play a game, and extracting, as a recommended candidate game from the game database, at least one game if the difference between the estimated time and the desired time is less than or equal to a predetermined value; and   presenting, by a recommended candidate presenting unit included in the computer, the recommended candidate game thus extracted to the second game apparatus.   
     
     
         7 . A computer program comprising:
 a module configured to provide a function for acquiring, from a first game apparatus, a skill level that indicates a user's degree of skill in a game;   a module configured to provide a function for acquiring, from a second game apparatus, a desired time that the user wishes to spend playing a game, and receiving a request to recommend candidate games that match the desired time;   a module configured to provide a function for modifying a standard time according to the acquired user's skill level with reference to a game database storing a standard time required for game play so as to calculate an estimated time that is an estimate of time required for the user to play a game, and for extracting, as a recommended candidate game from the game database, at least one game if the difference between the estimated time and the desired time is less than or equal to a predetermined value; and   a module configured to provide a function for presenting the recommended candidate game thus extracted to the second game apparatus.   
     
     
         8 . A game apparatus comprising:
 a recommendation request transmitting unit configured to acquire a desired time that the user wishes to spend playing a game, and to request that a game support server recommend games matching the desired time;   a recommended candidate acquisition unit configured to acquire, from the game support server, at least one recommended candidate game if the difference between the desired time and an estimated time, which is an estimate of time required for a user to play the game calculated by modifying a standard time required for game play according to a skill level indicating the user's degree of skill in the game, is less than or equal to a predetermined value; and   a recommended candidate display unit configured to display the recommended candidate game acquired by the recommended candidate acquisition unit.   
     
     
         9 . A game apparatus according to  claim 8 , further comprising a skill level transmitting unit configured to receive the user's skill level, and to transmit the user's skill level to the game support server. 
     
     
         10 . A game support method comprising:
 acquiring, by a recommendation request transmitting unit included in a computer, a desired time that the user wishes to spend playing a game, and requesting that a game support server recommends games matching the desired time;   acquiring, by a recommended candidate acquisition unit included in the computer, at least one recommended candidate game from the game support server if the difference between the desired time and an estimated time, which is an estimate of time required for a user to play the game calculated by modifying a standard time required for game play according to a skill level indicating the user's degree of skill in the game, is less than or equal to a predetermined value; and   displaying, by a recommended candidate display unit included in the computer, the recommended candidate game thus acquired.   
     
     
         11 . A computer program comprising:
 a module configured to provide a function for acquiring a desired time that the user wishes to spend playing a game, and configured to request that a game support server recommends games matching the desired time;   a module configured to provide a function for acquiring, from the game support server, at least one recommended candidate game if the difference between the desired time and an estimated time, which is an estimate of time required for a user to play the game calculated by modifying a standard time required for game play according to a skill level indicating the user's degree of skill in the game, is less than or equal to a predetermined value; and   a module configured to provide a function for displaying the recommended candidate game thus acquired.   
     
     
         12 . A game support system comprising:
 a portable game apparatus configured to play a game; and   a game support server configured to support the user of the portable game apparatus,   wherein the game support server comprises:
 a skill level acquisition unit configured to acquire a skill level that indicates a user's degree of skill in a game from a game apparatus that differs from the portable game apparatus, and configured to allow the same user as that of the portable game apparatus to play a game; 
 a game database configured to store a standard time required for playing a game; 
 a recommendation request receiving unit configured to acquire, from the portable game apparatus, a desired time that the user wishes to spend playing a game, and to receive a request to recommend candidate games that match the desired time; 
 a recommended candidate extraction unit configured to modify the standard time according to the user's skill level acquired by the skill level acquisition unit so as to calculate an estimated time that is an estimate of time required for the user to play a game, and to extract, as a recommended candidate game, at least one game if the difference between the estimated time and the desired time is less than or equal to a predetermined value; and 
 a recommended candidate presenting unit configured to present the recommended candidate game extracted by the recommended candidate extraction unit to the portable game apparatus, and 
   wherein the game apparatus comprises:
 a recommendation request transmitting unit configured to acquire the desired time from the user, and to request that the game support server recommend games that match the desired time; 
 a recommended candidate acquisition unit configured to acquire, from the game support server, at least one recommended candidate game presented by the recommended candidate presenting unit; and 
 a recommended candidate display unit configured to display the recommended candidate game acquired by the recommended candidate acquisition unit.