Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited

Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited

Douglas Ralph Ealey

Mark Denzil Green

Maurizio Cerrato

Jesus Lucas Barcias

Claire Rogers

Nicholas Tony Munson

An entertainment system includes a two-handed controller comprising corresponding controls in each of opposing halves of the controller, a first of the corresponding controls in each half providing input in at least two dimensions and a second of the corresponding controls in each half providing input in at least one dimension; and an entertainment device comprising a receiver adapted to receive control input signals from the two-handed controller, and adapted to operate in a first mode where the received control input signals from the controller are interpreted according to an asymmetric control assignment, and to operate in a second mode where control input signals from the first and second controls for a respective half of the controller are used to control the position of a respective virtual limb in three dimensions within a virtual environment provided by the entertainment device.

Input apparatus and method

A content generation system including an image generation unit operable to generate one or more images of a virtual environment for display at a first display device, and an image transmission unit operable to transmit generated images of the virtual environment to each of the first display device and the second display device, where the or each image displayed at one of the first display device and the second display device is a subset of the or each image displayed at the other of the first display device and the second display device, and where the viewpoint of the display device displaying a subset of the or each image is operable to modify the displayed field of view independently of the field of view displayed at the other display device.

Content generation apparatus and method

A method of assisting a first player of a videogame is provided. The method includes making a game state of the first player accessible to a second player. The game state describes a state of the videogame as played by the first player. The method also includes executing the videogame for the second player using the game state of the first player to define the initial state of the videogame for the second player, allowing the second player to play the videogame based upon the game state of the first player until a first predetermined criterion is met, and providing to the first player data for updating their game state in response to the play of the second player.

Gaming assistance system and method

An entertainment device comprises a display generator arranged to generate for display a representation of an on-line virtual environment corresponding to a first instance of a plurality of substantially similar on-line virtual environments and to generate for display within the representation of the on-line virtual environment an avatar controlled by the user of the entertainment device and one or more software-controlled avatars; a data communications arrangement operable to transmit an alert signal in response to a predetermined action of the user of the entertainment device within the first instance of the on-line virtual environment, said signal serving to request interaction with a human operator, the data communications arrangement being further operable to receive a notification signal; the display generator being arranged to respond to the notification signal by changing the mode of a software controlled avatar to represent an additional user of another entertainment device in data communication with the entertainment device, wherein the additional user is an operator whose entertainment device has been switched to the same first instance of the on-line virtual environment as that of the entertainment device in response to the transmitted alert signal; and the data communications arrangement being arranged to exchange information between the user of the entertainment device and the operator within the same first instance of the on-line virtual environment via their respective avatars.

Inserting an operator avatar into an online virtual environment

A server for administering an on-line virtual environment comprises a data communication arrangement and a processor. The data communication arrangement receives a signal from a first entertainment device in communication with an instance of the virtual environment. The signal indicates that a user of that device has performed a predetermined action. The processor determines the availability of a second entertainment device, and is operable to switch the second device from a second instance of the virtual environment to the first instance of the virtual environment. The data communication arrangement is operable, if the second device is available, to transmit a signal to the first device indicating that a software controlled avatar within that instance should change modes to represent a user of the second device. The processor is operable to transfer control of a previously software controlled avatar within that instance of the virtual environment to the second device.

Switching operation of an entertainment device and method thereof

Entertainment device and method

An entertainment device comprises communication means for communicating with a remote device over a network; program code and resources for running a full version of the program, the program code being operable to interact with remote devices also running a full version of the program; and program resource classification means, and in which when communication with a remote device indicates that the remote device is running a demonstration version of the program code; the program code on the entertainment device restricts the use of program resources to those identified by the program resource classification means as being available to or compatible with the demonstration version of the program, thereby restricting the full version of the program to operate substantially as a demo version of the program for the purposes of interaction with a demo version of the program being run on the remote device.

Growing community of inventors

Southampton, United Kingdom

Douglas Ralph Ealey