System and method for sharing gameplay experiences

Abstract

A method of sharing gameplay experiences between users included in a system ( 200, 520 ) is provided, wherein the users are arranged to employ gameplay terminals which include computing hardware for executing one or more software products recorded on machine-readable data storage media. The method includes including in the one or more software products a host game software application for implementing one or more games on one or more of the terminals; and appending one or more software components to the host game software application for providing control of the host game software application on a real-time basis for recording gameplay experiences for sharing amongst the users based upon one or more of: game view, sub-game view, sensor data employed to control the game, video camera views of one or more users playing the game, game events occurring during playing the game.

1 . A system for sharing gameplay experiences between users, comprising:
 a first gameplay terminal which a first user employs for a first gameplay activity;   a recording device configured to capture and store one or more individual streams of different elements of the first gameplay activity on the first gameplay terminal;   a camera configured to capture a video image and a microphone to capture audio of the user during the first gameplay activity;   a second gameplay terminal which a second user employs for a second gameplay activity, that is different from the first; and   computer hardware with a memory in communication with a processor, the memory including one or more software products recorded on machine-readable data storage media for execution by the processor to:   select one or more of the individual streams of different elements of the first gameplay activity on the first gameplay terminal to be captured;   store the selected individual streams;   detect a request for communicating a replay of the first gameplay activity by the second gameplay terminal;   determine which of the stored individual streams are requested for replay;   upload the requested and stored individual streams and user video image for replay; and   enable a user of the second gameplay terminal to select stored individual streams for replay.   
     
     
         2 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the individual streams of different elements comprise a userface video stream, a game video stream, a mix sound stream, a game sound stream, a game control stream, a game statistics stream, a user interface data stream or a game events stream. 
     
     
         3 . The system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the individual streams are data linked via time stamps to enable replay of the individual streams in a temporally synchronized manner. 
     
     
         4 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the first gameplay terminal to communicate the selected individual streams via a communication network to a gameplay sharing experience service server arrangement through which the selected individual streams are communicated from the first gameplay terminal to one or more recipient gameplay terminals, wherein each of the one or more recipient gameplay terminals can selected different individual streams of the first gameplay activity to be downloaded. 
     
     
         5 . The system as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the first and second gameplay terminals are implemented as wireless-enabled computing devices including one or more of: smart telephones, laptop computer, personal computers, Pad computers, tablet computers, dedicated game playing terminals. 
     
     
         6 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising one or more software components appended to a host game software application for providing control to the host game software application on a real-time basis for recording the first and second gameplay activity, wherein the one or more software components are implemented as a software development kit (SDK) which includes a library of the components. 
     
     
         7 . The system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein one or more software components are implemented as a downloadable application software library. 
     
     
         8 . The system as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein one or more software components are implemented via an OpenGL API. 
     
     
         9 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to enable the first or second gameplay activity, when replayed at the terminal, to be user-configurable by selecting among one or more streams of recorded elements stored in data memory when the first or second gameplay activity was recorded prior to distribution within the system. 
     
     
         10 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to create and store a game video from the captured individual streams and a stream of images of the user during the first or second gameplay activity. 
     
     
         11 . A software development kit (SDK) recorded on non-transitory machine-readable data storage media, wherein the software development kit includes a library comprising one or more software components that are incorporated into host game software; and
 a processor, the processor configured to execute instructions stored on the on-transitory machine-readable data storage media of the software development kit for implementing the method as claimed in  claim 12 .   
     
     
         12 . A method of sharing gameplay experiences between users, wherein the users are arranged to employ gameplay terminals for a gameplay activity, the gameplay terminals comprising a memory with a processor for executing one or more machine readable instructions recorded on non-transitory machine-readable data storage media, wherein the method, when the machine readable instructions are executed by the processor, comprises:
 causing the processor to capture individual streams of gameplay activity on the first gameplay terminal;   capturing a video image of the user during the first gameplay activity;   selecting one or more of the individual streams of the first gameplay activity on the first gameplay terminal;   storing the selected individual streams;   detecting a request from a second gameplay terminal for communicating a replay of the first gameplay;   determining which of the stored individual streams are requested for the replay; and   transmitting the requested and stored individual streams for replay at the second gameplay terminal.   
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the individual streams comprise a userface video stream, a game video stream, a mix sound stream, a game sound stream, a game control stream, a game statistics stream, a user interface data stream or a game events stream. 
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor are configured to cause the processor to link the individual streams via time stamps to enable replay of the individual streams in a temporally synchronized manner. 
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor are configured to cause the first gameplay terminals to communicate the requested and stored individual streams via a communication network to a game sharing experience service server arrangement through which the game sharing experience is communicated from the first gameplay terminal to one or more recipient gameplay terminals, wherein each of the one or more recipient gameplay terminals can select different individual streams of the first gameplay activity to be communicated. 
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the gameplay terminals are implemented as wireless-enabled computing devices including one or more of: smart telephones, laptop computer, personal computers, Pad computers, tablet computers, dedicated game playing terminals. 
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the machine readable instructions recorded on non-transitory machine-readable data storage media are implemented as a software development kit (SDK) comprising a library of the software components. 
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the machine readable instructions recorded on non-transitory machine-readable data storage media are implemented as a downloadable application software library. 
     
     
         19 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein the machine readable instructions recorded on non-transitory machine-readable data storage media are implemented via an OpenGL API. 
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the machine readable instructions recorded on non-transitory machine-readable data storage media, when executed by the processor, are configured to cause the processor to enable the selected individual streams to be replayed at one or more of the gameplay terminals to be user-configurable by selecting among one or more streams of recorded elements stored in data memory when the gameplay activity was recorded prior to distribution within the system. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the individual streams of different elements of the game play activity are recorded as mutually independent streams. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein a game video stream comprises one or more of an actual game view and a toolbar view. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the video image of the user is captured as a separate individual stream concurrently with the gameplay activity and the capture of other individual streams of different elements.