Volume control system, management server, and gaming machine and volume control method

Abstract

A volume adjustment method for adjusting the volume of a plurality of gaming machines 11, 12 , . . . , N connected to a management server 2 via a network 3 includes an investigation step (S 11 ), by which the management server 2 investigates the operating condition of each of the gaming machines 11, 12 , . . . , N via the network 3 ; a calculation step (S 12 ), by which the management server 2 calculates the operating ratio of all of the gaming machines 11, 12 , . . . , N based on the results obtained at the investigation step; a volume adjustment command transmission step (S 13 ), by which the management server sends to all of the gaming machines via the network 3 , a volume adjustment command instructing adjustment of volume to the volume coordinated to the operating ratio; and a volume adjustment step (S 14 ), by which each of the gaming machines 11, 12 , . . . , N that receives the volume adjustment command adjusts their volume output in coordination to the operating ratio.

1 . A volume adjustment system in which a management server is connected to a plurality of gaming machines via a network 
 the management server comprising:    investigating unit for investigating an operating condition of each gaming machine;    calculating unit for calculating an operating ratio based on a result of an investigation provided by the investigating unit; and    transmission unit for sending commands to each gaming machine providing instructions that make a sound coming from each gaming machine correspond to the operating ratio calculated by the calculating unit; and    each gaming machine comprising:    sound output unit for outputting sound;    volume adjustment unit for adjusting a volume of sound output from the sound output unit; and    control unit for operating the volume adjustment unit based on the commands from the management server.    
   
   
       2 . A management server capable of sending requests or commands to a plurality of gaming machines and of receiving reports back from each of the gaming machines, the management server comprising: 
 investigating unit for investigating an operating condition of each of the gaming machines by sending a request for an operating condition report to each of the gaming machines and receiving the operating condition report showing whether or not the gaming machine is operating from each of the gaming machines;    calculating unit for receiving an operating report from each of the investigating unit and outputs a value as an operating ratio, derived by dividing a total number of operating reports showing that the gaming machine is operating by a total number of the gaming machines; and    transmission unit for receiving the operating ratio from the calculating unit, and sending a command to each of the gaming machines with an instruction to adjust a volume output from the gaming machines such that that volume corresponds to the operating ratio and the volume is determined from an operating ratio/volume relationship stored in advance.    
   
   
       3 . A gaming machine capable of receiving a command or request from a management server and sending a report to the management server, this gaming machine comprising: 
 operating condition reporting unit for sending a reply to the management server indicating whether or not the gaming machine itself is operating once a request for an operating condition report is received from the management server;    audio output unit for outputting sound;    volume adjustment unit for adjusting a volume of sound output from the audio output unit; and    control unit for controlling the volume adjustment unit in compliance with a volume adjustment command once the volume adjustment command has been received from the management server.    
   
   
       4 . A volume adjustment method for adjusting a volume of a plurality of gaming machines connected via a network to a management server, the method comprising the steps of: 
 investigating an operating condition of each gaming machine via the network;    calculating an operating ratio based on the results of the investigation conducted at the investigating step; and    adjusting a volume output from each gaming machine, the volume corresponding to the operating ratio.    
   
   
       5 . The volume adjustment method according to  claim 4 , wherein 
 the gaming machines are divided into gaming machines of a first group and gaming machines of a second group,    the calculating step involves calculation of an operating ratio of a first group and an operating ratio of a second group, and    the adjusting step involves an adjustment of a first volume output from each of gaming machines of the first group as the first volume corresponds to the operating ratio of the gaming machines of the first group, and an adjustment of a second volume output from each of gaming machines of the second group as the second volume corresponds to the operating ratio of the gaming machines of the second group.