Method and apparatus for providing a rhythm action dance game with camera capture of movement

Abstract

A player may interact with the game and cooperate or compete with other players by executing specific dance moves in synchrony with music content. The player's avatar may be animated to perform dance moves. Upper body movements may be controlled by how well the player executes the indicated dance moves or they may be predetermined for certain points in the music content. In embodiments in which the gaming platform is provided with a camera, the camera may be used to capture movements of the player. Methods also provide real-time musical interaction among a plurality of players connected via a network includes the steps of receiving input from a local player representing a musical performance, receiving second music performance data from a remote player, creating emulation data representing the remote musical performance, and using the emulation data to generate a local approximation of the remote musical performance.

1 . A method of providing a dance game executed on a game platform comprising:
 preparing for display an avatar that is animated to perform dance moves and indicate the dance moves to be performed in the dance game;   receiving, at the game platform, movements captured by a camera;   analyzing on the game platform the movements captured by the camera to obtain dance performance data by comparing the captured movements to an indicated dance move; and   updating the dance game display based on the dance performance data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising preparing for display on a display a next dance move and indicating when the dance move is to be performed. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the display of the next dance move includes a directional arrow, where each directional arrow indicates a specific dance step. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending to a display in the dance game a next dance move indication that moves toward a target marker and that instructs a player to execute the indicated dance move when the next dance move indication passes under the target marker. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the next dance move indication is displayed on a side of the display. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising comparing the movements captured by the camera to an expected dance performance based on timing of the dance moves performed by the avatar. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a vocal input relating to music content of the dance game while receiving dance move input from the camera. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing in the dance game a competitive play mode where the player competes against another player in an attempt to earn a higher score. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing in the dance game a cooperative play mode where at least two players work together to earn a combined score. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving at the game platform from a second game platform emulated dance performance data over a network to facilitate network play of the dance game. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the emulation data includes a statistical description of the dance performance that is performed on the second game platform. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving at the game platform from a second game platform dance performance data over a network to facilitate network play of the dance game. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the dance performance data includes data extracted at the second game platform from movements captured by a camera at the second game platform to an expected dance performance. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the game console that the game is executed on is an XBOX 360 game console. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving remote dance performance data from a server for use in a current game. 
     
     
         16 . Logic encoded on a non-transitory computer readable medium that when executed performs the steps comprising:
 preparing for display an avatar that is animated to perform dance moves and indicate the dance moves to be performed in a dance game;   receiving movements captured by a camera;   analyzing the movements captured by the camera to obtain dance performance data by comparing the captured movements to an indicated dance move; and   updating the dance game display based on the dance performance data.   
     
     
         17 . The logic of  claim 16 , further comprising preparing for display on a display a next dance move using a directional arrow, where each directional arrow indicates a specific dance step. 
     
     
         18 . The logic of  claim 16 , further comprising sending to a display in the dance game a next dance move indication that moves toward a target marker and that instructs a player to execute the indicated dance move when the next dance move indication passes under the target marker. 
     
     
         19 . The logic of  claim 16 , further comprising comparing the camera captured movements to an expected dance performance based on timing of the dance moves performed by the avatar. 
     
     
         20 . A game platform comprising:
 an event monitor module that is configured to receive movements captured by a camera in a dance game in response to displaying an avatar that is animated to perform dance moves and indicate the dance moves to be performed in the dance game; and   an analyzer module that is configured to analyze the movements captured by the camera to obtain dance performance data by comparing the captured movements to an indicated dance move and update the dance game display based on the dance performance data.