Method and system for playing an interactive game

Abstract

An interactive system and method allows game participants to engage in a contest that is subsequently broadcast with a time delay to game observers. The broadcast signal may be for the purpose of a pure entertainment source or may be an enticement to play the shown or other interactive games. The games may be computer simulation games, role-playing games, strategy games, question and answer games, casino games, or other games as desired. The broadcast signals may show a specialized view of the game being played and may contain live commentary or other enhancements. The games may be played with set top boxes connected to a television, a broadcast network, and a server system.

1 . A method comprising:
 by a server computer, initiating a game by:
 generating and providing first code to a device, the first code causing the first device to present a first user interface of the game to a player of the game, and 
 generating and providing second code to a second device, the second code causing the second device to present a second user interface of the game to an observer that is not any player of the game; and 
   by the server computer, generating and providing video images of the game during play of the game, the video images including second images provided with a time delay to the second device for presentation the second user interface, the video images including first images provided without the time delay to the first device for presentation in the first user interface.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the game is a multiplayer game, and the player is a first player of the game;   the initiating of the game includes generating and providing third code to a third device, the third code causing the third device to present a third user interface of the game to a second player of the game; and   the video images include third images provided without the time delay to the third device for presentation the third user interface.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the time delay with which the second images provided to the second device includes at least one of multiple seconds, multiple minutes, or multiple days.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the game is a war game in which a location that corresponds to the player is depicted in at least one of the second images provided with the time delay to the second device; and   the generating of the video images includes generating the at least one of the second images to depict the location that corresponds to the player.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein:
 a character that corresponds to the player within the game dies during play of the game; and   the generating of the video images includes generating at least some of the second images to depict the character dying during play of the game.   
     
     
         6 . The method of claim wherein:
 a score that corresponds to the player is depicted in at least one of the second images provided with the time delay to the second device; and   the generating of the video images includes generating the at least one of the second images to depict the score that corresponds to the player.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 an action that corresponds to the player within the game is depicted in at least some of the second images provided with the time delay to the second device; and   the generating of the video images includes generating the at least some of the second images to depict the action that corresponds to the player within the game.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first code causes the first user interface to present player controls in a first portion of the first user interface and present the first images in a second portion of the first user interface.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the initiating of the game is in response to the player selecting an ad for the game included within a video broadcast being provided to the first device.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 inserting the ad for the game into the video broadcast, the inserted ad being selectable by the player to indicate that the game is to be started.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the initiating of the game is in response to selection of the ad for the game via input devices of two or more players of the game, the two or more players including the player.   
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a computational device, cause the computational device to perform operations comprising:
 initiating a game by:
 generating and providing first code to a first device, the first code causing the first device to present a first user interface of the game to a player of the game, and 
 generating and providing second code to a second device, the second code causing the second device to present a second user interface of the game to an observer that is not any player of the game; and 
   generating and providing video images of the game during play of the game, the video images including second images provided with a time delay to the second device for presentation the second user interface, the video images including first images provided without the time delay to the first device for presentation in the first user interface.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the game is a war game in which a location that corresponds to the player is depicted in at least one of the second images provided with the time delay to the second device; and   the generating of the video images includes generating the at least one of the second images to depict the location that corresponds to the player.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the initiating of the game is in response to the player selecting an ad for the game included within a video broadcast being provided to the first device.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 4 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 inserting the ad for the game into the video broadcast, the inserted ad being selectable by the player to indicate that the game is to be started.   
     
     
         16 . A system comprising:
 one or more server computers communicatively coupled to a network and configured to initiate a game by:
 generating and providing first code to a first device, the first code causing the first device to present a first user interface of the game to a player of the game, and 
 generating and providing second code to a second device, the second code causing the second device to present a second user interface of the game to an observer that is not any player of the game; wherein 
   the one or more server computers are configured to generate and provide video images of the game during play of the game, the video images including second images provided with a time delay to the second device for presentation the second user interface, the video images including first images provided without the time delay to the first device for presentation in the first user interface.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 a score that corresponds to the player is depicted in at least one of the second images provided with the time delay to the second device; and   the one or more server computers are configured to generate the at least one of the second images to depict the score that corresponds to the player.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 an action that corresponds to the player within the game is depicted in at least some of the second images provided with the time delay to the second device; and   the one or more server computers are configured to generate the at least some of the second images to depict the action that corresponds to the player within the game.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the one or more server computers are configured to initiate the game in response to the player selecting an ad for the game included within a video broadcast being provided to the first device.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the one or more server computers are configured to initiate the game in response to selection of the ad for the game via input devices of two or more players of the game, the two or more players including the player.