Sony Corporation

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

William T Parks

Shinichi Tanaka

Yasutaka Miwa

Nobukazu Koyama

Masaki Higuchi

Masaharu Sakai

Koji Shima

Jonathan Warren Webb

Luke Bond

James Wang

Mark Petty

A computer activity-based challenge may be posted by a computer system to a social network associated with a user of the computer system. A notification may be received from the social network by the computer system indicating acceptance of the challenge for each subscriber of the social network who accepts the challenge. A result obtained by each subscriber who accepted the challenge may be recorded by the computer system after receiving the result from the social network. In some implementations a value associated with the challenge may be updated using dynamic scoring.

Implementing computer activity-based challenges

A game device includes: a first requirement achievement determining unit operative to determine whether or not a requirement of gameplay predefined in a game is achieved based on a progress status of the game; a second requirement achievement determining unit operative to determine whether or not a result of determination by the first requirement achievement determining unit meets a predetermined condition; a display processing unit operative to display information related to the requirement of gameplay determined by the first requirement achievement determining unit as being achieved, and information related to the predetermined condition determined by the second requirement achievement determining unit as being met, where the first requirement achievement determining unit is implemented by game software and the second requirement achievement determining unit is implemented by system software.

Game device

Methods for establishing a location-based leaderboard by a computer game system are disclosed. The world may be partitioned into a set of regions and sub-regions by the computer game system using a hierarchical spatial data structure, wherein the regions and sub-regions are arranged according to a hierarchy, each sub-region being encompassed by a higher-level sub-region or region, and two or more highest-level sub-regions being encompassed by a region. A location of a user of the computer game system along with one or more statistics associated with the user may be assigned to a smallest sub-region created by the hierarchical spatial data structure. A rank of the user may then be determined within a region or sub-region encompassing the smallest sub-region to which the user's location was assigned, wherein the rank is determined using the one or more statistics associated with the user. One or more users may then be notified of the rank.

Method and system for establishing location-based leaderboard

In a game device, a loading processor loads save data on which user ID information is attached from a storage device; an application executing unit executes a game program while using the loaded save data; a game requirement achievement determining unit determines whether or not a predetermined requirement of gameplay is achieved based on a progress status of the game; and item ID acquiring unit acquires an item ID associated with achieved requirement of gameplay; an item acquisition processing unit has a function for generating item acquisition information while using the acquired item ID; and a function limiting unit limits the function of an item acquisition processing unit in accordance with user ID information attached to the save data.

Logical partitions in an information processing apparatus share an IP address and are assigned different MAC addresses. A representative logical partition communicates with an external entity on behalf of the other logical partitions. A driver is provided with a virtual interface and a physical interface. Internal communication between the logical partitions is done via the virtual interface and communication with an external entity is done via the physical interface. If a packet received from an external destination is destined to one of the other logical partitions, the protocol stack of the representative logical partition replaces the destination MAC address by the MAC address of the destination logical partition. The protocol stack provides the packet in which the destination MAC address has been replaced to the virtual interface. The virtual interface transfers the packet provided by the protocol stack to the destination logical partition.

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

William T Parks