Ranking of User-Generated Game Play Advice

Abstract

Management of user-generated game play advice is disclosed. The present invention allows for management of game play advice that is complete and up-to-date regardless of when a particular interactive gaming title is released. Game play advice is pervasive and easily accessible to game players in addition to being accurate and credible such that game players can trust or rely upon the rendered advice.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for managing user-generated game play advice, the method comprising:
 receiving new game play advice from a user;   displaying the new game play advice to a community of users, the new game play advice being initially displayed in a default ranking position;   receiving feedback associated with the quality of the new game play advice or the previously received game play advice, the feedback received from the community of users;   ranking the new game play advice against the previously received game play advice based on the feedback received from the community of users; and   displaying the new game play device in coordination with the state of the currently played game.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the new game play advice is displayed in a three-dimensional virtual environment including an object associated with a reward or achievement. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the new game play advice is selected from the group consisting of textual, visual, and audible game play advice. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the feedback is selected from a group consisting of numeric, characteristic, and binary feedback, the feedback including user commentary. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein ranking and displaying the new game play advice in a position that is not the default position occurs substantially in real-time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein ranking and displaying the new game play advice in a position that is not the default position occurs according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein ranking and displaying the new game play advice in a position that is not the default position occurs in response to a user query. 
     
     
         8 . A system for managing user-generated game play advice, the system comprising:
 a game play advice submission engine for receiving game play advice submissions over a network;   a ranking engine configured to allocate a ranking to the game play advice submissions received over the network;   a game play advice display engine configured to display the game play advice submissions in accordance with the ranking allocated by the ranking engine; and   a feedback engine configured to receive feedback from a community of users with respect to the quality of the game play advice displayed by the game play advice display engine, wherein the feedback engine and the ranking engine operate to allocate a new ranking to the game play advice in accordance with the feedback received from the community of users, the game play advice being subsequently displayed by the game play advice display engine in coordination with the state of the currently played game.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking allocated by the ranking engine is selected from the group consisting of numeric, characteristic, binary, and percentage-based rankings. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking engine is further configured to apply a tie-breaker to game play advice receiving an equal ranking from the ranking engine. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the game play advice display engine operates using an asynchronous programming language to continually update displayed game play advice submissions in accordance with a most recent new ranking as allocated by the feedback engine and the ranking engine. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the game play advice display engine displays game play advice submissions in accordance with a most recent new ranking as allocated by the feedback engine and the ranking engine according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the game play advice display engine displays game play advice submissions in accordance with a most recent new ranking as allocated by the feedback engine and the ranking engine in response to a user query. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the feedback engine is further configured to receive feedback from a community of users with respect to the reputation of a user submitting game play advice. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking engine is further configured to allocate a grade to a user in a community of users for a particular interactive game based on the accomplishments or the experience of the user with respect to the interactive game. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a weighting engine, the weighting engine configured to allocate a first value to the feedback received from the community of users with respect to the quality of the game play advice and a second value to the reputation of the user submitting the game play advice, the first and second value proportionally affecting the new ranking allocated to the game play advice. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , further comprising a weighting engine, the weighting engine configured to allocate a first value to the feedback received from the community of users with respect to the quality of the game play advice and a second value to the user grade received from the community of users, the first and second value proportionally affecting the new ranking allocated to the game play advice. 
     
     
         18 . A method for displaying user-generated game play advice, the method comprising:
 receiving new game play advice from a first user, the first user having previously received feedback from a community of users;   ranking the new game play advice against previously received game play advice, the previously received game play advice having been submitted by at least a second user, the at least a second user having previously received feedback from the community of users, wherein the ranking of the new game play advice against the previously received game play advice is based on the user feedback received from the community of users; and   displaying the new game play device in coordination with the state of the currently played game.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the new game play advice is displayed in a three-dimensional virtual environment including an object associated with a reward or achievement. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the new game play advice is selected from a group consisting of textual, visual, and audible game play advice. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the feedback is selected from the group consisting of numeric, characteristic, and binary feedback, the feedback including user commentary. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the displaying is based at least in part on the ranking, the ranking and displaying the new game play advice occurring substantially in real-time. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein ranking and displaying the new game play advice occurs according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein ranking and displaying the new game play advice occurs in response to a user query. 
     
     
         25 . A method for managing user-generated game play advice, the method comprising:
 receiving new game play advice from a user;   displaying the new game play advice to a community of users, the new game play advice displayed in a default ranking position and in conjunction with previously received game play advice;   ranking the new game play advice against the previously received game play advice, the previously received game play advice having been submitted by at least a second user, the at least a second user having previously received feedback from the community of users, wherein the ranking of the new game play advice against the previously received game play advice is based on the user feedback received from the community of users; and   receiving feedback associated with the quality of the new game play advice or the previously received game play advice, the feedback received from the community of users;   assigning a first weighting value to the user feedback and a second weighting value to the feedback associated with the quality of the game play advice;   ranking the new game play advice against the previously received game play advice based on the feedback received from the community of users and the feedback associated with the quality of the game play advice, wherein the ranking occurs in accordance with the first weighting value and the second weighting value; and   displaying the new game play device in coordination with the state of the currently played game.