Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Nintendo of America Inc.

Gunpei Yokoi

Kenichi Sugino

Satoru Okada

Ichiro Shirai

Noboru Wakitani

Yuji Hori

Hideo Nagata

Norikatsu Furuta

Yoshinobu Mantani

Takehiro Izushi

Masatoshi Okuno

Masuru Okada

LED arrays where a plurality of LEDs are vertically arranged are lit up in luminance corresponding to tone values on digital image data. Light beams in line emitted from the LED arrays are scanned in a horizontal direction to display a two-dimensional image. Clocks A, B, C are selectively gated according to the tone values D0, D1 on the digital image data to generate a drive pulse for driving each of the LEDs on the LED arrays. Each LED thus emits light in luminance corresponding to the tone value on the digital image data. Pulse widths of the clocks A, B, C are changed by one screen. Luminance of each light emitting element corresponding to the tone data on the digital image data is thus changed to increase the substantially representable number of tones.

Image display device

A manipulator includes a housing having right and left handles, and a coupling for coupling them. The handles are formed with grips, and direction instructing switches for instructing the character moving direction. The switches are disposed in the thumb position area of the player in the upper parts of the grips. A step is formed between the operating regions for forming direction instructing switches and grips, and the thumb of the player draws a spontaneous arc along the step.

Manipulator for game machine

Game machine

When a game is started, the game execution time is counted by a counter and a determination is made as to whether or not the execution time coincides with a timer value which is set before the game is started, so that the game is forcibly ended upon coincidence. When the game is forcibly ended, the game content before the ending is preserved. Thus, it is not necessary to do the game all over again, in order to restart the game.

Picture display unit and image display system

A manipulator includes a housing which consists of right and left handles, and a coupling for coupling the handles. Both handles are formed with grips and direction instructing switches for instructing the character moving direction. The direction instructing switches are disposed in the thumb position area of the player in the upper parts of the grips. A step is formed between the operating regions for the direction instructing switches and the grips, such that the thumb of the player draws a spontaneous arc along the step.

Controller for game machine

A program cartridge 4 is detachably attached to a body device 2. The game cartridge 4 stores a game program and certain data. The body device 2 reads the game program from the game cartridge 4 and executes the game program, and reads the certain data and refers to the data to display OBJ images and BG images provided with parallax in left and right display systems. That is to say, the body device 2 displays in the left and right display systems planar OBJ images having no parallax themselves shifted in the opposite directions in the right and left by the amount corresponding to provided parallax information. Also, the body device 2 cuts out left and right two BG images from a planar source image having no parallax by itself with the two images shifted in the opposite directions in the left and right by the provided parallax amount and displays the cut out left and right BG images at the same positions in the left and right display systems. Furthermore, the body device 2 displays planar BG images having no parallax themselves in the left and right display systems while shifting them by an amount corresponding to the provided parallax information in the left and right opposite directions. This way, an OBJ image and a BG image are displayed with parallax provided by a novel method.

Stereoscopic image display device and storage device used therewith

A musical electric signal generated by electric signal generator 1 is supplied to a rhythm signal extractor 2 so that a rhythm signal is extracted. Interval data of rhythm signal peaks are stored in memory 3. Cycle detector 4 detects a musical rhythm cycle based on the interval data stored in the memory 3 and then provides a rhythm synchronizing signal in synchronization with the rhythm. The rhythm synchronizing signal is utilized as a control signal for moving portions of a toy.

Rhythm recognizing apparatus and responsive toy

A robotic game apparatus comprises a CRT display. A robot has a photo detector which faces a screen of the CRT display and detects an image on the screen. On the screen of the CRT display, images which differ, for example, in brightness or the like are formed in response to different codes. The photo detector of the robot generates a code signal responding to a change in image brightness or the like. This code signal is decoded, and motors or the like are controlled to cause corresponding movements of the arms and body of the robot.

Photosensing video game control system

Robot-like game apparatus

A liquid crystal display unit (20) includes a main housing (21), a mirror housing (22) and a sub housing (23) which are successively connected with each other in a rotatable manner. The main housing (21) is provided on both sides with a pair of rearwardly extending arms (24 and 25), so that engaging projections (27) of the sub housing (23) are slidably engaged with sliding guide grooves (28) of the arms (24 and 25). Thus, the display unit (20) can be selectively brought into a folded condition in which the mirror housing (22) and the sub housing (23) are superposed along the arms (24 and 25) with the engaging projections (27) slid frontwardly and an opened condition in which the mirror housing (22) is downwardly inclined and the sub housing (23) is opened from the mirror housing (22). The sub housing (23) is provided with a liquid crystal display panel (38) adapted for transmission of light. In the opened condition, the light (D) transmitted from above through the liquid crystal display panel (38) is reflected forward by a mirror (31) provided on the mirror housing (22) for observation by a user holding the unit (20) with the upper surface of the panel upward and the surface of the mirror (21) forward.

Foldable liquid crystal display unit

An electronic toy having a game function preferably includes a single display having a figure displaying region and a numerical value displaying region. A game mode is established upon operation of a game start switch. The figure displaying region includes an arrangement of a plurality of figure displaying segments and a predetermined one or a certain number of segments out of the plurality of segments is selectively activated for a display responsive to an operation of a game operation switch in the game mode, whereby a figure representation on the display is changeable in response to the operation of the game operation switch. A score counter evaluates a score of the game in response to the change of the figure representation. Upon operation of the game start switch, the content in the score counter is displayed by the numerical value displaying region. Current time information obtained from a timepiece apparatus may be displayed by the numerical value displaying region; however, upon operation of the game start switch, the numerical value displaying region is switched to display the score of the game, as described above. The movement of apparatus controlled symbols along any one of a plurality of paths is controlled in a manner substantially unknown or unpredictable by the player.

Electronic toy having a game function

A liquid crystal display apparatus comprising first and second housing portions. The first and second housing portions are coupled so that the angle of the opposing surfaces may be adjustable. A light transmitting portion is formed on the upper surface of the first housing portion. Light received by the light transmitting portion is further transmitted through a liquid crystal plate and a colored filter housed in the first housing portion and impinges upon a mirror provided in the second housing portion. An image formed on the liquid crystal plate can be observed as a multicolored image through light reflected from the mirror. The image may be observed through a viewing window.

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Gunpei Yokoi