Gaming device with customizable template for advertising display

Abstract

The invention provides for generating a customizable gaming-machine template for advertising on a gaming-machine. A customizable template may be generated to allow a user, such as a casino or licensee, to customize secondary gaming information to be displayed on the gaming-machine. The user may select what type of information is to be displayed, when is it displayed (e.g., times of days), triggers for its display (e.g., particular states of the gaming-machine) and a format for its display (e.g., size, shape, device, colors, display locations, etc.).

1 . A gaming-machine having a user customizable template, comprising:
 a master gaming controller for controlling one or more games played on the gaming-machine, each game comprising:
 receiving a wager on an outcome of the game; 
 determining an outcome for the game; 
 presenting the outcome for the game; 
   a PCI bus for communication between the master gaming controller and at least one device connected to the PCI bus;   an interface in communication with the master gaming controller to receive an approved portable memory device having at least one approved gaming software therein;   an authenticator in communication with the master gaming controller via the PCI bus to authenticate the portable memory device;   a non-volatile memory that communicates with the master gaming controller to store the at least one approved gaming software;   a menu generator in communication with the master game controller via the PCI bus to generate the template listing a plurality of advertising images to be selected by a user, the plurality of advertising images embedded within the approved gaming software;   a slave processor in communication with the master gaming controller via the PCI bus to process the selected advertising image for display on a gaming-machine.   
     
     
         2 . The gaming-machine of  claim 1  further comprising a gaming-machine display to display the selected advertising images processed by the master gaming controller. 
     
     
         3 . The gaming-machine of  claim 1  wherein the at least one advertising image further comprises at least one upcoming game advertising image having a time stamp. 
     
     
         4 . The gaming-machine of  claim 1  wherein the timing to display the advertising image corresponds to a state of the gaming-machine. 
     
     
         5 . The gaming-machine of  claim 2  wherein the selected advertising images are displayed on a scrolling ticker. 
     
     
         6 . The gaming-machine of  claim 2  wherein the selected advertising images are displayed on a top, bottom, and side of the display. 
     
     
         7 . The gaming-machine of  claim 2  wherein the selected advertising images are flashed into the display. 
     
     
         8 . The gaming-machine of  claim 2  wherein the display is an active video platform operating system to allow a player to obtain instant information about the advertisement. 
     
     
         9 . The gaming-machine of  claim 10  wherein the advertising image is time sensitive. 
     
     
         10 . The gaming-machine of  claim 1  wherein the menu generator is only accessible in an operator mode. 
     
     
         11 . The gaming-machine of  claim 1  wherein the menu generator further comprises a preview mode to preview the selected advertising images. 
     
     
         12 . A method for creating a gaming-machine customizable template, comprising:
 inserting an approved portable memory device into a gaming-machine, the memory device having at least one approved gaming software;   authenticating the memory device by a master game controller;   generating the template by a menu generator having a plurality of advertising images to be displayed by a master gaming controller, the advertising images embedded into the approved gaming software;   selecting by a user at least one of the advertising images to be displayed on a gaming-machine display;   previewing the selected advertising image on the gaming-machine display.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the selecting further comprises matching the selected advertising image to be displayed with at least one state of the gaming-machine. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising storing the selected advertising image to a memory coupled to the master gaming controller. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the memory is a non-volatile random access memory. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the previewing further comprises displaying the selected advertising image on a scrolling ticker. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the previewing further comprises displaying the selected advertising image on a bottom, top, and side of the display. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the previewing further comprises flashing the selected advertising image on the display. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the gaming-machine display is an active video platform to allow a gaming-machine player to obtain instant information about the advertisement. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the advertising image is time sensitive and comprises a time stamp.