Gaming machine allowing selection of stopping order of reels for sustaining player's anticipation, and control method thereof

Abstract

A gaming machine, at the beginning of a game, determines static symbols for each of the video reels and executes variable display. Then, in a case where the static symbols do not form a winning combination and where the static symbols include symbols constituting a winning combination, video reels displaying symbols not constituting the winning combination are statically displayed after other video reels.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A gaming machine comprising:
 a display including a plurality of display regions for displaying a plurality of kinds of symbols;   memory for storing a stopping order control program for controlling a stopping order for each of the plurality of display regions, in which the plurality of kinds of symbols stop varying and are statically displayed;   an input device for accepting external input; and   a controller for executing processing of:   (a) in response to an input signal from the input device, randomly determining a symbol to be statically displayed in each of the plurality of symbol display regions after the variable display of the symbols;   (b) determining, in a winning combination processing step, whether, after (a), a combination of symbols to be rearranged in the plurality of display regions along a pay line after the variable display of the symbols corresponds to a winning combination;   (c) after (b), where it is determined that the combination of symbols to be displayed after the variable display will not constitute a winning combination, automatically statically displaying those symbols corresponding to a winning combination and then subsequently automatically statically displaying those symbols that do not correspond to the winning combination by means of the stopping order control program; and,   (d) after (b), wherein is determined that the combination of symbols to be displayed after the variable display will constitute a winning combination, randomly statically displaying the symbols corresponding to the winning combination.   
     
     
       2. A gaming machine including:
 a display including a plurality of display regions for displaying a plurality of kinds of symbols;   memory for storing a stopping order control program for controlling a stopping order for each of the plurality of display regions, in which the plurality of kinds of symbols stop varying and are statically displayed;   an input device for accepting external input; and   a controller for executing processing of:   (a) starting a game in response to an input signal from the input device;   (b) randomly determining a symbol to be rearranged in each of the plurality of display regions on the display, from the plurality of kinds of symbols;   (c) performing variable display for changing symbols displayed in the plurality of display regions on the display to other kinds of symbols;   (d) determining, in a winning combination processing step, whether, after (b), a combination of symbols to be rearranged in the plurality of display regions along a pay line after the variable display corresponds to a winning combination;   (e) in a case where, in (d), the combination of symbols to be rearranged in the plurality of display regions along a pay line is determined not to correspond to a winning combination, automatically statically displaying symbols not corresponding to the winning combination in the plurality of display regions after automatically statically displaying symbols corresponding to a potential winning combination in other display regions by means of the stopping order control program;   (f) in a case where, in (d), the combination of symbols to be rearranged in the plurality of display regions along the pay line is determined to correspond to a winning combination, randomly displaying the symbols determined to be rearranged in the processing (b) by randomly stopping the variable display and statically displaying the symbols; and   (g) after (f), providing an award corresponding to the winning combination displayed.   
     
     
       3. A gaming machine according to  claim 2 , wherein to execute (f), the controller statically displays symbols in display regions randomly selected from among the plurality of display regions and delays the static display of symbols in other display regions by means of the stopping order control program. 
     
     
       4. A gaming machine comprising:
 a display having a plurality of symbol display regions for displaying symbols capable of switching between variable display and static display;   an input device for accepting external input; and   a controller for executing processing of:   (a) in response to an input signal from the input device, determining by a lottery a symbol to be statically displayed in each of the plurality of symbol display regions after the variable display of symbols;   (b) after (a), in a winning combination processing step, comparing a combination of symbols to be automatically statically displayed after the variable display of symbols, along an activated pay line among pay lines defined across the plurality of symbol display regions, with a known winning combination of symbols qualified for an award, and determining whether a quantity of a non-winning symbol is less than or equal to a first value;   (c) after (b), in a case where the quantity of the non-winning symbols is less than or equal to the first value, determining whether or not to change a stopping order for automatically statically displaying each of the plurality of symbol display regions after the variable display;   (d) after (c), in a case where the stopping order is determined to be changed and where the combination of symbols to be automatically statically displayed along the activated pay line includes the non-winning symbol, changing the stopping order so that the symbol display region displaying the non-winning symbol is automatically statically displayed after the symbol display region displaying the symbol constituting the combination qualified for an award is automatically statically displayed;   (e) after (a), in the winning combination processing step, comparing a combination of symbols to be automatically statically displayed after the variable display of symbols, along an activated pay line among pay lines defined across the plurality of symbol display regions, with a known winning combination of symbols qualified for an award, and where the combination of symbols to be automatically statically displayed along the activated pay line includes the symbols corresponding to the known winning combination of symbols, randomly automatically statically displaying the combination of symbols corresponding to the winning combination in each of the plurality of symbol display regions; and,   (f) regarding each of the plurality of symbol display regions, switching from the variable display to the static display according to the stopping order changed in (d).   
     
     
       5. A gaming machine comprising:
 a display including a plurality of symbols and a plurality of display regions each configured to statically display a symbol therein after a variable arrangement of the plurality of symbols;   a memory storing a plurality of pattern data tables that each determine a stopping order of the plurality of symbols after the variable arrangement of the symbols;   an input device that accepts an external input; and   a CPU programmed to execute the processes of:   (a) in response to an input signal from the input device, randomly determining a symbol to be statically displayed to each of the symbol display regions after the variable display of the symbols;   (b) determining, in a winning combination processing step, whether a combination of symbols to be statically displayed to the plurality of display regions after the variable display of the symbols corresponds to a winning combination;   (c) after (b), where it is determined that the combination of symbols to be statically displayed to the plurality of display regions after the variable display will not constitute the winning combination, extracting one of the plurality of pattern data tables from the memory via a lottery to randomly determine a stopping order of the symbols to each of the plurality of display regions when the symbols are statically displayed, and automatically statically displaying the symbols to each of the plurality of display regions according to the extracted pattern data table such that those symbols corresponding to the winning combination are statically displayed before those symbols that do not correspond to the winning combination; and,   (d) after (b), where it is determined that the combination of symbols to be statically displayed to the plurality of display regions after the variable display will constitute the winning combination, extracting one of the pattern data tables from the memory via a lottery to randomly determine a stopping order of the symbols to each of the plurality of display regions when the symbols are statically displayed, and statically displaying the symbols corresponding to the winning combination according to the extracted pattern data table.   
     
     
       6. The gaming machine according to claim 5, wherein in the winning combination processing step, the CPU compares a combination of symbols to be statically displayed after the variable display of symbols with a known winning combination of symbols qualified for an award, determines a quantity of a non-winning symbols to be statically displayed, randomly selects a pattern data table from the memory from among the plurality of pattern data tables based on the quantity of non-winning symbols to be automatically stop-displayed, and stop displays the symbols according to the stopping order set forth by the extracted pattern data table. 
     
     
       7. A gaming machine comprising:
 a display including a plurality of symbols and a plurality of reels each configured to statically display a symbol after a variable display of the symbols;   an input device that accepts an external input;   a memory storing a plurality of analogous winning combinations of symbols; and,   a CPU programmed to execute the processes of:   (a) in response to an input signal from the external input, determining a symbol to be statically displayed to each of the reels after the variable display of the symbols;   (b) determining, in a winning combination processing step, whether symbols to be statically displayed to each of the plurality reels after the variable display of the symbols correspond to a winning combination;   (c) after (b), where it is determined that the combination of symbols to be statically displayed to the plurality of reels after the variable display will not constitute the winning combination, extracting an analogous winning combination of symbols from the memory that corresponds to a winning combination of symbols having the greatest number of symbols in common with the combination of symbols to be statically displayed, determining whether the symbols to be statically displayed to each of the plurality of reels correspond to the analogous winning combination, and automatically statically displaying each of the plurality of reels based on the analogous winning combination such that those symbols corresponding to the analogous winning combination are statically displayed before those symbols that do not correspond to the analogous winning combination; and,   (d) after (b), where it is determined that the combination of symbols to be statically displayed to the reels after the variable display will constitute the winning combination, randomly statically displaying the symbols corresponding to the winning combination.   
     
     
       8. The gaming machine of claim 7, wherein the CPU stores to the memory, a delay flag that delays the static display of each of the plurality of reels that do not include a symbol corresponding to the analogous winning combination. 
     
     
       9. The gaming machine of claim 7, wherein the analogous winning combination is selected based on a number of symbols not constituting the winning combination. 
     
     
       10. The gaming machine of claim 9, wherein the number of symbols not constituting the analogous winning combination is used to randomly select a stopping pattern from among a plurality of stopping patterns stored in the memory. 
     
     
       11. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein a stopping pattern that is randomly selected determines a stopping order of the plurality of reels such that those symbols corresponding to the analogous winning combination are displayed before those symbols that do not correspond to the analogous winning combination. 
     
     
       12. A gaming machine comprising:
 a display including a plurality of display regions that display a plurality of kinds of symbols;   a memory storing a plurality of stopping order control programs that control a stopping order of each of the plurality of display regions, in which the plurality of kinds of symbols stop varying and are statically displayed;   an input device that accepts an external input; and   a CPU programmed to execute processing of:   (a) in response to an input signal from the input device, randomly determining a symbol to be statically displayed in each of the plurality of symbol display regions after the variable display of the symbols;   (b) determining, in a winning combination processing step, whether, after (a), a combination of symbols to be rearranged in the plurality of display regions after the variable display of the symbols corresponds to a winning combination based on a number of a specific symbol rearranged to the plurality of display regions being larger than a predetermined number;   (c) after (b), where it is determined that the combination of symbols to be displayed after the variable display will not constitute the winning combination, automatically statically displaying those symbols corresponding to the winning combination and then subsequently automatically statically displaying those symbols that do not correspond to the winning combination according to one of the stopping order control programs selected from among the plurality of the stopping order control programs; and,   (d) after (b), where it is determined that the combination of symbols to be displayed after the variable display will constitute the winning combination, randomly statically displaying the symbols corresponding to the winning combination according to a randomly generated stopping order program selected from among the plurality of stopping order programs.   
     
     
       13. A slot machine that determines an arrangement pattern for statically displaying a plurality of symbols after a variable display of symbols, the slot machine comprising:
 a CPU; and,   a memory storing a plurality of pattern data tables therein,   wherein the CPU extracts a pattern data table from the memory to determine a stopping order of the plurality of symbols based on the symbols to appear in a predetermined arrangement pattern, the pattern data table used by the CPU until the plurality of symbols are variably displayed and then statically displayed in the predetermined arrangement pattern;   wherein the CPU controls the stopping order of the plurality of symbols based on the extracted data pattern table; and, wherein,   when it is determined that the plurality of symbols to be statically displayed according to the predetermined arrangement pattern do not qualify for an award, the CPU automatically statically displays those symbols corresponding to an award before automatically statically displaying those symbols that do not correspond to an award based on the extracted data pattern; and wherein,   when it is determined that the plurality of symbols to be statically displayed according to the predetermined arrangement pattern qualify for an award, the CPU automatically randomly statically displays those symbols corresponding to the winning combination based on the extracted data pattern; and wherein,   the extracted pattern data table is randomly extracted from among the plurality of pattern data tables by means of a lottery based on a number of the plurality of symbols included in the predetermined arrangement pattern that do not correspond to an award.   
     
     
       14. A slot machine comprising a CPU and a display which performs a payout when a result of statically displaying a plurality of reels on the display after a variable display of the reels includes a winning combination, wherein, when the result to be displayed on the display does not include a winning combination, the CPU:
 determines for each reel, prior to displaying the result, whether each reel includes a symbol constituting an analogous winning combination, and   delays automatically statically displaying each reel that does not have a symbol constituting an analogous winning combination until after those symbols constituting the analogous winning combination are automatically displayed; and wherein,   when the result to be displayed on the display after the variable display of the reels does include a winning combination, automatically randomly statically displaying the symbols corresponding to the winning combination.   
     
     
       15. The slot machine according to claim 14, further including a memory, wherein based on the determination of whether each reel includes a symbol constituting an analogous winning combination, the CPU stores to the memory a delaying flag for each reel that does not have a symbol constituting the analogous winning combination. 
     
     
       16. The gaming machine of claim 5, wherein the winning combination comprises at least one of one type of symbol among a plurality of kinds of symbols. 
     
     
       17. The gaming machine of claim 5, wherein the winning combination comprises at least a predetermined number or more of at least one type of symbol. 
     
     
       18. The gaming machine of claim 5, wherein the winning combination comprises at least one of one type of symbol configured to be arranged along a payline. 
     
     
       19. The gaming machine of claim 5, wherein the winning combination comprises at least a predetermined number of at least one type of symbol configured to be arranged to the display. 
     
     
       20. The slot machine of claim 13, wherein when it is determined that the plurality of symbols to be statically displayed according to the predetermined arrangement pattern qualify for an award, the CPU automatically randomly statically displays those symbols corresponding to the winning combination based on the extracted data pattern.