Interactive amusement device advertising

Abstract

An amusement device having interactive advertisements includes a display, an input device, an attract mode, and a game play mode. The amusement device includes a memory that stores a plurality of electronic games. The amusement device also includes a controller operatively coupled to the memory, the input device, and the display. The controller controls the display based upon the system control program retrieved from the memory and based upon inputs from the input device. The controller is configured to (i) permit the user to selectively retrieve from the memory and play one of the plurality of electronic games and (ii) display an interactive advertisement during at least one of the attract mode and the game play mode.

1 . An amusement device having interactive advertisements, the amusement device having a display, an input device, an attract mode, and a game play mode, the amusement device comprising: 
 a memory that stores a plurality of electronic games and a system control program; and    a controller operatively coupled to the memory, the input device, and the display, the controller controlling the display based upon the system control program retrieved from the memory and based upon inputs from the input device,    the controller being configured to: 
 (i) permit a user to selectively retrieve from the memory and play one of the plurality of electronic games; and  
 (ii) display an interactive advertisement during at least one of the attract mode and the game play mode.  
   
   
   
       2 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive advertisement is one of a static text string, a static image, a full motion video, and a hyperlink.  
   
   
       3 . The amusement device of  claim 2 , wherein the interactive advertisement is user selectable and provides a link to an advertisement and the remaining portion of the screen is user selectable and provides a link to a menu screen highlighting a game being displayed on the screen.  
   
   
       4 . The amusement device of  claim 2 , wherein the interactive advertisement provides a link to one of a website, a full-motion video advertisement, a detailed advertisement, and an audio advertisement.  
   
   
       5 . The amusement device of  claim 2 , wherein, upon user selection, the interactive advertisement toggles to a different one of a static text string, a static image, and a full motion video.  
   
   
       6 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the amusement device includes an operating mode and a setup mode, 
 when the operating mode is selected, a user is selectively permitted to play games, and    when the setup mode is selected, an operator is permitted to make system setup adjustments.    
   
   
       7 . The amusement device of  claim 6 , wherein when the setup mode is selected, an operator is permitted to make adjustments to at least one of times that the interactive advertisement is displayable, types of interactive advertisements permitted to be displayed on the amusement device, and a maximum duration of time the interactive advertisement can be accessed.  
   
   
       8 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein, during the attract mode, the amusement displays a demonstration of one of the plurality of electronic games, the interactive advertisement being user selectable within the demonstration.  
   
   
       9 . The amusement device of  claim 8 , wherein the interactive advertisement is user selectable and provides a link to an advertisement and the remaining portion of the screen is user selectable and provides a link to a menu screen highlighting a game being displayed on the screen.  
   
   
       10 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , further comprising a sound system having a first volume and a second volume, the sound system playing sound at the first volume while the amusement device is in an attract mode, until a user selects the interactive advertisement whereupon the sound system plays sound at the second volume for a predetermined period of time.  
   
   
       11 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the input device is one of a pushbutton, a touchscreen, a touchpad, a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, a foot-pedal, a voice-recognition system, a keypad, and a keyboard.  
   
   
       12 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is selectively configured to display text in a first language and a second language, the interactive advertisement being displayed in the first language when the controller is configured to display text in the second language.  
   
   
       13 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive advertisement has a customizable template.  
   
   
       14 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive advertisement is one of stored locally in the memory of the amusement device and downloaded to the amusement device.  
   
   
       15 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive advertisement is controlled remotely from the amusement device.  
   
   
       16 . The amusement device of  claim 15 , wherein adjustments to at least one of times that the interactive advertisement is displayable, a maximum duration of time the interactive advertisement can be accessed, and types of interactive advertisements permitted to be displayed on the amusement device are controlled remotely.  
   
   
       17 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the amusement device is monitored remotely to determine statistics about the interactive advertisement.  
   
   
       18 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the amusement device periodically sends statistics about the interactive advertisement.  
   
   
       19 . The amusement device of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive advertisement provides a link to a purchasing screen.  
   
   
       20 . The amusement device of  claim 19 , wherein the amusement device provides access to a user preference file, the user preference file automatically providing one or more user preferences for completing the purchasing screen.  
   
   
       21 . An amusement device having interactive advertisements, the amusement device having a display, an input device, an attract mode, and a game play mode, the amusement device comprising: 
 a memory that stores a plurality of electronic games and a system control program; and    a controller operatively coupled to the memory, the input device, and the display, the controller controlling the display based upon the system control program retrieved from the memory and based upon inputs from the input device,    the controller being configured to: 
 (i) permit a user to selectively retrieve from the memory and play one of the plurality of electronic games; and  
 (ii) display one of a static image of one of the plurality of games and an animated demonstration of one of the plurality of games during the attract mode, the screen being user selectable and providing a shortcut to the respective one of the plurality of games.  
   
   
   
       22 . A method of advertising interactively in an amusement device, the amusement device having a display, an input device, an attract mode, and a game play mode, a user of the amusement device being permitted to selectively retrieve from a memory and play one of a plurality of electronic games, the method comprising: 
 providing an interactive advertisement for display during at least one of the attract mode and the game play mode, the interactive advertisement being user selectable; and    providing a link to an advertisement accessible upon selection of the interactive advertisement by the user.    
   
   
       23 . An amusement device having interactive advertisements, the amusement device having a display, an input device, an attract mode, and a game play mode, the amusement device comprising: 
 a memory that stores an electronic game and a system control program; and    a controller operatively coupled to the memory, the input device, and the display, the controller controlling the display based upon the system control program retrieved from the memory and based upon inputs from the input device,    the controller being configured to: 
 (i) permit a user to retrieve from the memory and play the electronic game; and  
 (ii) display an interactive advertisement during at least one of the attract mode and the game play mode.