Method and apparatus for presenting information associated with a game

Abstract

A method for indicating a pre-game environment quality level may include, for example, obtaining a profile associated with a video game, where the profile comprises desirable performance metrics for initiating the video game, performing performance metric measurements in collaboration with a computing device from which the video game is to be played, comparing the performance metric measurements to the desirable performance metrics, determining a discrepancy between the performance metric measurements and the desirable performance metrics, determining a gaming quality level according to the determined discrepancy, and presenting at the computing device a quality indicator based on the determined quality level. The presenting can further include graphically displaying the quality indicator and the discrepancy. Other embodiments are disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 obtaining, by a system comprising a processor, a computing environment quality metric measurement associated with playing a game;   determining, by the system, a gaming environment quality level for playing the game based on comparing the computing environment quality metric measurement and desireable environment quality metric for an environment quality factor as identified in a game profile associated with the game as contributing to a desirable gaming experience with respect to the game and with respect to a computing device used to play the game; and   presenting, by the system, an indication of the gaming environment quality level.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing, by the system, a performance metric measurement for the environment quality factor identified in the game profile to obtain the computing environment quality metric measurement. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the performance metric measurement comprises a processor resource availability. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the performance metric measurement comprises a speed of a network with which the system communicates. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the performance metric measurement comprises a round trip communication network test. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the system, a discrepancy between the computing environment quality metric measurement and the desirable environmental quality metric of the game profile, wherein the gaming environment quality level is further determined according to the discrepancy. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the presenting further comprises graphically displaying, by the system, the indication of the gaming environment quality level. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing, by the system, a functional test at the computing device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the gaming environment quality level is further determined from a result of the functional test. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising detecting, by the system, a malfunction of a gaming accessory that is used for inputting signals while playing the game. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising presenting, by the system, a notice of the malfunction of the gaming accessory. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising
 obtaining, by the system, a second performance metric measurement relating to a second computing device being used to play the game at a remote location;   determining, by the system, a second gaming environment quality level for playing the game at the remote location according to the second performance metric measurement; and   presenting, by the system, a second indication of the second gaming environment quality level associated with the remote location.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising presenting, by the system, a recommendation to use the remote location to play the game based on the gaming environment quality level, the second gaming environment quality level, a distance between a present location of the computing device and the remote location, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising presenting, by the device, an indication that a user is present at the remote location that has been recommended. 
     
     
         15 . A server comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 receiving a plurality of computing environment quality metric measurements associated with a plurality of locations for playing a video game; 
 determining a plurality of gaming environment quality levels for playing the video game at the plurality of locations based on comparing the plurality of computing environment quality metric measurements and a plurality of desirable environment quality metrics for an environment quality factor as identified in a game profile associated with the game as contributing to a desirable gaming experience with respect to the video game and with respect to a computing device used to play the video game; and 
 transmitting, to a first computing device, the plurality of gaming environment quality levels for playing the video game at the plurality of locations, wherein the first computing device presents a graphical representation of the plurality of gaming environment quality levels at a display. 
   
     
     
         16 . The server of  claim 15 , wherein a first computing environment quality metric measurement of the plurality of computing environment quality metric measurements is received from the first computing device. 
     
     
         17 . The server of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of computing environment quality metric measurements comprise a processor resource availability, a speed of a network, a round trip communication network test, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The server of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise determining a plurality of discrepancies between the plurality of computing environment quality metric measurements and the plurality of desirable environmental quality metrics of the game profile, wherein the plurality of gaming environment quality levels are further determined according to the plurality of discrepancies. 
     
     
         19 . A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 receiving a plurality of gaming environment quality levels for playing a video game at a plurality of locations, wherein the plurality of gaming environment quality levels are determined based on comparing a plurality of computing environment quality metric measurements and a plurality of desirable environment quality metrics for an environment quality factor as identified in a game profile associated with the video game as contributing to a desirable gaming experience with respect to the game and with respect to playing the game;   generating a graphical representation of the plurality of gaming environment quality levels;   presenting the graphical representation of the plurality of gaming environment quality levels at a display; and   receiving a selection of a first location of the plurality of locations according to a first graphical representation of the plurality of gaming environment quality levels.   
     
     
         20 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise retrieving information from a social network regarding sessions of the video game at the plurality of locations.