Interactive tournament contest

Abstract

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention sets forth a system, method and computer program product which may include providing an interactive tournament contest; allowing at least one participant participating in the tournament contest to invite at least one additional participant to participate in the tournament contest; and providing a prize to the winner of the interactive tournament contest, wherein a value of the prize increases dependent upon a total number of the participants participating in the tournament contest.

1 . A method comprising: 
 a) providing a game;    b) allowing at least one participant in said game to invite at least one additional participant to said game; and    c) providing an incentive to the winner of said game, wherein a value of said incentive increases dependent upon a total number of the participants in said game.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 d) providing an indication of growth of said value of said incentive as said total number of the participants increases.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said indication comprises at least one of: 
 a graphical indication;    an image;    a video image;    an animated image;    a graphical indication;    a multi-dimensional indication;    a two-dimensional indication;    a three-dimensional indication;    a pyramid;    a cone;    a cylindrical;    a tower;    a polygon;    a triangle; and/or    a rectangle.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said game comprises at least one of: 
 an interactive game;    a tournament,    a skill game,    a tournament with prizing,    a tournament contest,    a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game; and/or    a contest.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said interactive tournament contest comprises at least one of: head-to-head, round robin, three-way, four-way, five-way, six-way, seven-way, eight-way, nine-way, ten-way and/or multiple-way pairings.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said game comprises a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said incentive comprises at least one of: 
 a monetary prize;    a prize;    an award;    a coupon;    a gift;    a trip;    a discount;    a ticket;    an event;    a sporting event;    an entertainment event;    access to content;    audio content;    video content;    music;    movies;    programming;    a phone;    a car;    a vehicle; and/or    an automobile.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of: 
 d) tracking performance in said game of invited participants of a given participant; and/or    e) providing said performance of the invited participants to the given participant.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said (b) comprises at least one of: 
 allowing the at least one participant to invite a plurality of additional participants at one time;    allowing the at least one participant to maintain a buddy list of additional participants; and/or    allowing the at least one participant to track performance of the buddy list.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said (a) comprises at least one of: 
 providing a countdown to start clock to the participants; and/or    providing a separately running version of a countdown clock.    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said (a) comprises: 
 providing an indication of the approaching time of at least one of lockdown, closure and/or commencement of said game.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said (a) comprises at least one of: 
 providing an audio indication when an opponent of the participant has answered a given question; and/or    providing a visual indication when the opponent of the participant opponent has answered the given question.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1   1 , wherein said commencement indication comprises at least one of: 
 an audio indication,    a video indication,    a graphical indication,    an image indication,    a musical indication, and/or    a crescendo musical indication.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said tournament contest comprises at least one of: 
 a plurality of questions;    a plurality of rounds;    a plurality of rounds comprising a plurality of questions;    a timed question;    a timed round;    a plurality of timed rounds comprising a plurality of timed questions;    a round of at least one of: 
 at least one question,  
   2  questions,  
   3  questions,  
   4  questions,  
   5  questions,  
   6  questions,  
   7  questions,  
   8  questions,  
   9  questions,  
   10  questions, and/or  
 multiple questions;  
   a room;    a segment;    a fill in the blank question;    a multiple choice question; and/or    a true and/or false question.    
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein points in said game are earned by the at least one participant by at least one of: 
 answering a question,    answering a question faster than another,    incorrectly answering a question,    incorrectly answering a question and receiving negative of said points,    correctly answering a question,    correctly answering a question prior to completion of a timer,    correctly answering a question prior to another of the at least one participants, and/or    correctly answering a question faster than another of the at least one participants.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said tournament contest comprises at least one of: 
 providing a head-to-head game;    providing a multi-way game;    providing a head-to-head tournament;    providing a head-to-head bracketed pairing;    providing an online tournament;    providing a networked game;    providing a tournament;    providing a contest;    providing a round-robin game;    providing a massively multiplayer online game;    providing a web-based tournament;    providing an interactive television-based tournament;    providing a single elimination tournament;    providing at least a double elimination tournament;    providing a consolation round;    providing a consolation round wherein winning is only dependent on total points earned in a tournament;    a multi-platform game;    a mobile game; and/or    providing a consolation round with multiple participants in a one-to-many contest.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said (b) comprises at least one of: 
 providing the at least one participant an indication of points earned in at least one of a round, and/or said tournament;    providing an indication of points earned by a competitor; and/or    providing the at least one game an indication of points earned by the at least one additional participant invited by the at least one participant.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said (b) comprises at least one of: 
 providing a buddy list to the at least one participant;    allowing the creation of an address book from which to invite other participants;    allowing configuring of an avatar;    allowing a tale of the tape;    allowing a side-by-side comparison of at least two participants; and/or    providing an avatar to the at least one participant.    
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of: 
 providing statistics about performance of the at least one participant;    providing results of said game;    providing results of a tournament contest;    providing at least one top performance of the at least one participants;    providing an electronic notification of results of a tournament contest;    providing at least one of an email, an instant message, a short message system (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) and/or a wireless notification of results of a tournament contest;    providing a list of the performance of the top ten of the at least one participants; and/or    providing performance results to the at least one participant from at least one of said tournament and/or a previous tournament.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of: 
 providing an advertisement (ad) during at least one of: before, between, and/or during one or more rounds of said tournament contest;    providing a banner ad;    providing a video ad;    providing an audio ad;    providing an animated ad;    providing content;    providing audio content; and/or    providing video content.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 providing a schedule of at least one of a current game, a past game, a future game, a current tournament, a past tournament and/or a future tournament.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 providing, in the event of an odd number of participants, at least one of:    a bye,    a token participant,    a ghost participant,    a computer-generated participant,    a bench warmer participant,    a sacrificial lamb participant, and/or    a software agent participant.    
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 enabling a third party comprising at least one of a business, an individual, a consumer, a charity, and/or an entity, to conduct said tournament contest comprising at least one of: 
 receiving a selection of a skin option;  
 enabling a mod;  
 receiving a third party sponsored prize;  
 receiving a fee from the third party;  
 receiving avatar configurability information;  
 receiving options for creation of a new game;  
 receiving a setup for a game;  
 receiving a request for a type of game; and/or  
 sharing revenue sharing with the third party.  
   
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 enabling collaboration between two or more participants comprising providing at least one of: 
 a billboard;  
 a short message system (SMS);  
 a mobile message;  
 an invitation to a friend;  
 an email to a friend;  
 a message;  
 a notification;  
 an alert;  
 an internet message;  
 a BLOG;  
 a message board;  
 an Internet chat session;  
 an instant message;  
 a chat room;  
 an email; and/or  
 a voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) session.  
   
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an application enabling provision of said game, said application providing at least one of: 
 a message;  
 a program on a computer readable medium,  
 a downloadable program,  
 an applet,  
 a web-enabled application,  
 a mobile application,  
 BREW application;  
 a networked application;  
 a massively multimedia (MMO) and/or  
 a JAVA application.  
   
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said method is performed on at least one of: 
 a browser-based system;    a standalone workstation-based system;    a client-server based system;    a server-based system; and/or    an application service provider (ASP)-based system.    
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is used for attracting users including at least one of: 
 attracting non-registered new subscribers;    attracting traffic from existing subscribers;    attracting affinity participation;    attracting activity;    attracting visitors to a website;    attracting demand for content;    attracting page hits;    attracting page use;    attracting sponsorship;    attracting advertising;    driving brand recognition; and/or    attracting live people.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the users being attracted are being attracted to at least one of: 
 an advertisement (AD)    a website;    a broadcast;    a program;    content;    a viewing of content; and/or    playback of content.    
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said c) comprises at least one of: 
 providing a fact-related game;    providing an entertainment related game;    providing a content related game;    providing a movie content related game;    providing a music content related game;    providing a television content related game;    providing a sports related game;    providing a current events related game;    providing a news related game;    providing a trivia game;    providing a sports trivia game;    providing an entertainment trivia game;    providing a movie trivia game;    providing a television trivia game;    providing a television program trivia game;    providing games;    providing incentives;    providing casual games;    providing history games;    providing educational games;    providing entertainment games;    providing skill games;    providing card games;    providing board games;    providing arcade games;    providing games with incentives;    providing mobile games; and/or    providing a broadcast trivia game.    
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 requiring the participants to perform at least one of: 
 registering as a participant;  
 registering at least one of an email, a username, a password, a first name, last name, and/or personally identifiable information;  
 performing a reverse Turing test to indicate a live participant;  
 entering a unique indicator of the at least one participant;  
 entering a social security number of the at least one participant; and/or  
 entering an email address of the at least one participant.  
   
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said c) comprises: 
 increasing said value of said prize after at least one of: 
 said total number reaches at least one threshold level of participation,  
 said total number exceeds at least one threshold level of participation,  
 said total number falls within a range of participation, said total number reaches a level of participation, and/or  
 said total number reaches a tier of participation.  
   
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said c) comprises providing a tournament to users using at least one of: 
 a device;    a watch;    a gaming device;    a console;    an XBOX 360;    a PLAYSTATION (PS/2);    a PLAYSTATION PORTABLE (PSP);    a kiosk;    a mobile device;    a telephony device;    a browser enabled device;    a web browser-enabled device;    a web device;    a computing device;    a communications device;    a telephony device;    an interactive television (iTV) device;    a wireless device;    a personal digital assistant (PDA) device;    a location-based device; and/or    a geographic positioning system (GPS) location-based device.    
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said invite comprises at least one of: 
 a billboard;    a short message system (SMS);    a mobile message;    an invitation to a friend;    an email to a friend;    a message;    a notification;    an alert;    an internet message;    a BLOG;    a message board;    an Internet chat session;    an instant message;    a chat room;    an email; and/or    a voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) session    
   
   
       34 . A system comprising: 
 an game, adapted to allow at least one participant to invite at least one additional participant to participate in said game, and adapted to provide an incentive to the winner of said game, wherein a value of said incentive increases dependent upon a total number of the participants participating in said game.    
   
   
       35 . A system comprising: 
 means for providing a game;    means for allowing at least one participant participating in said game to invite at least one additional participant to participate in said game; and    means for providing an incentive to the winner of said game, wherein a value of said incentive increases dependent upon a total number of the participants participating in said game.    
   
   
       36 . A computer-readable medium embodying logic which when executed on a computer performs a method comprising: 
 providing game;    allowing at least one participant participating in said game to invite at least one additional participant to participate in said game; and    providing an incentive to the winner of said game, wherein a value of said incentive increases dependent upon a total number of the participants participating in said game.    
   
   
       37 . A method of providing a scaleable massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, comprising: 
 a) upon determining a total number of participants for a game, merging participants into a minimal number of segments having up to a predetermined capacity of participants per segment; and    b) populating any unfilled of said minimal number of segments with at least one of a ghost and/or a bye, to completely fill each of said minimal number of segments to said predetermined capacity.    
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising at least one of: 
 c) randomly assigning participants to initial segments;    d) randomly assigning participants to initial segments prior to determining said total number of participants for said game; and/or    e) reassigning said participants to a different of said segments based on any seeding of said participants.    
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising: 
 c) seeding the participants within each of said segments.    
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising: 
 d) reassigning the participants to other of said segments, based on said seeding.    
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said a) comprises: 
 determining a minimal number of segments needed to get as close as possible to a predetermined capacity limitation into which to divide said total number of participants to reach less than or equal to a pre-determined segment capacity limit.    
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said determining comprises determining a number x of segments into which to place the participants, which provides a value N x , wherein said value N X  is a nearest value greater than or equal to said total number of participants.  
   
   
       43 . The method of  41 , wherein x is equal to a number of rounds to be played in the game.  
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein said N is equal to at least one of: 
 2 for a head-to-head competition;    3 for a three-way competition;    4 for a four-way competition;    4 for a bridge-like competition;    5 for a 5-way competition game;    5 for a poker competition game;    6 for a 6-way competition game;    7 for a 7-way competition game;    8 for an 8-way competition game;    9 for a 9-way competition game; and/or    10 for a 10-way competition game.    
   
   
       45 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein a given segment to which a participant is assigned is transparent to the participant.  
   
   
       46 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said merging comprises merging participants together with a best fit algorithm.  
   
   
       47 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein there are not more Ghost and/or bye participants than real participants.  
   
   
       48 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising seeding and wherein said seeding comprises: seeding based on a rating level of the participants, wherein said rating level of the participants is assigned based on participant performance; seeding in bracket style, wherein said bracket style comprises having highest-rated participants play with lowest-rated participants.  
   
   
       49 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising: 
 d) at the end of a round, creating a new segment in a new round; and    e) merging winners from previous adjacent segments into said new segment.    
   
   
       50 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein for a game having each segment populated with a N x  participants, only 1 of every group of the N x  participants move into the next segment.  
   
   
       51 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein players in the consolation round are not reassigned from their segments because they are not involved in matchups.  
   
   
       52 . The method according to  claim 36  wherein said predetermined capacity comprises at least one of: 
 1024 participants per segment; and/or    a quantity N x , wherein N is equal to a number participants per segment, and wherein x comprises a number of rounds of said game.    
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said c) comprises: 
 determining a quantity N x  segments, wherein N is equal to a number participants per segment, and wherein x comprises a number of rounds of said game.    
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein N is equal to 2 for a head to head competition.  
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein N is equal to 4 for a bridge competition.  
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein N is equal to 5 for a poker competition.  
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein as a value of N increases, the number of rounds of the game decrease, and the faster said game is completed.  
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein x equals a number of rounds of said game.  
   
   
       59 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein x equals a number of initial segments.  
   
   
       60 . The method according to  claim 36 , wherein data transmission packets are the same size regardless of said total number of participants.