Method and apparatus for creating and playing soundtracks in a
Contents
1. 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 FIG 10 illustrates the creation of a soundtrack using a variety of different audio sources A new soundtrack 1002 is created by selecting audio tracks from one or more different audio sources Exemplary audio sources illustrated in FIG 10 include audio CDs 1004 and 1006 game discs 1008 and 1010 WMA files 1012 and 1014 and audio DVDs 1016 and 1018 Although a limited number of audio sources are illustrated in FIG 10 soundtrack 1002 can be created using audio tracks from any number of audio sources that repre sent any number of artists The audio tracks that comprise soundtrack 1002 can be arranged in any order regardless of the audio source or the time at which the audio track was retrieved or copied Audio CDs 1004 and 1006 typically include multiple audio tracks Soundtrack 1002 may contain one or more audio tracks from one or more audio CDs Game discs 1008 and 1010 may contain one or more audio tracks that are played during the game One or more of those audio tracks may be included in the user created soundtrack 1002 WMA files 1012 and 1014 may be stored locally on the hard disk drive or available from an online source Each WMA file may contain one or more audio tracks One or more audio tracks from one or more WMA files may be included in soundtrack 1002 Additionally one or more MPEG Layer 3 MP3 audio files not shown may be included in soundtrack 1002 M2. At block 602 the console application 260 determines whether the games element 502 is selected If so 1 the Yes branch from block 602 the console application 260 navigates to the games collection 404 and presents a games collection menu block 604 If the games element is not selected block 606 determines whether the music element 504 is selected If the music element 504 is selected the console UI application 260 navigates to the music collection 406 and presents a music collection menu block 608 As discussed below the music collection menu includes options to create edit and play soundtracks through the gaming system If the movies element 506 is selected block 610 the console UI application 260 navigates to the movies collec tion 408 and presents a movie player block 612 If the memory element 508 is selected block 614 the console UI application 260 navigates to the memory area 416 and presents a memory collection menu block 616 Finally if the settings element 510 is selected block 618 the console UI application 260 navigates to the settings area 418 and presents a settings collection menu block 620 FIG 7 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting a music collection menu 700 that is presented upon selection of the music element 504 in the main menu UI 500 FIG 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 The music collection is the area where the user can se
3. game disc or other media from the gaming system prior to playing the soundtrack FIG 1 shows an exemplary gaming system 100 It includes a game console 102 and up to four controllers as represented by controllers 104 1 and 104 2 The game console 102 is equipped with an internal hard disk drive and a portable media drive 106 that supports various forms of portable storage media as represented by optical storage disc 108 Examples of suitable portable storage media include DVD CD ROM game discs and so forth The game console 102 has four slots 110 on its front face to support up to four controllers 104 although the number and arrangement of slots may be modified A power button 112 and an eject button 114 are also positioned on the front face of the game console 102 The power button 112 switches power to the game console and the eject button 114 alternately opens and closes a tray of the portable media drive 106 to allow insertion and extraction of the storage disc 108 The game console 102 connects to a television or other display not shown via A V interfacing cables 120 A power cable 122 provides power to the game console The game console 102 may further be configured with broadband capabilities as represented by the cable or modem connector 124 to facilitate access to a network such as the Internet Each controller 104 is coupled to the game console 102 via a wire or wireless interface In the illustrated implementation the
4. A SOUNDTRACK OR PLAY GAME USING THE DEFAULT SOUNDTRACK 1310 NEW SOUNDTRACK OR DEFAULT DEFAULT SOUNDTRACK 1312 NEW LAUNCH THE SELECTED GAME 1314 AND PLAY THE DEFAULT GAME SOUNDTRACK PRESENT THE USER WITH AVAILABLE SOUNDTRACKS 1316 LAUNCH THE SELECTED GAME AND PLAY THE SELECTED SOUNDTRACK US 6 878 067 B2 1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING AND PLAYING SOUNDTRACKS IN A GAMING SYSTEM RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a divisional of co pending application Ser No 09 802 661 filed Mar 9 2001 entitled Method and Apparatus for Creating and Playing Soundtracks in a Gaming System and incorporated herein by reference COPYRIGHT NOTICE A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to gaming systems and more particularly to the creation of soundtracks using a gaming system and to the playback of soundtracks using a gaming system BACKGROUND Gaming systems currently available on the market are capable of playing game discs music CDs and movie DVDs from a disc drive For example the Playstation 2 gaming sy
5. WwW S SELECT 808 H 812 4 U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 8 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 music choose a Soundtrack SOUNDTRACK 1 SOUNDTRACK 2 uu SOUNDTRACK 3 SOUNDTRACK 4 U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 9 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 1006 AUDIO 1008 CD2 1004 1010 AUDIO CD 1 1002 SOUNDTRACK 1018 1012 AUDIO WMA FiLE 1 DVD 2 1014 AUDIO 1016 WMA FiLE 2 DVD 1 U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 10 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 1100 1102 GAMING SYSTEM CREATES A NEW SOUNDTRACK FILE 1104 USER iS PRESENTED WITH A LIST OF AUDIO SOURCES 1106 USER SELECTS AN AUDIO SOURCE USER IS PRESENTED WITH A LIST OF AUDIO TRACKS FROM THE AUDIO SOURCE UsER SELECTS ONE oR MORE AUDIO TRACKS FROM THE LIST GAMING SYSTEM RETRIEVES THE SELECTED AUDIO TRACKS AND ADDS THE AUDIO TRACKS TO THE SOUNDTRACK ADD MORE AUDIO TRACKS TO THE SOUNDTRACK No 1116 GAMING SYSTEM RETURNS TO THE MUSIC COLLECTION MENU Fig U U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 11 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 RAUdTO 2 SOUNOTPACK 3 Artist Nome 7 Trecks 12 Tracks U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 12 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 1300 1302 X USER SELECTS GAME TO PLAY 1304 DOES THE SELECTED GAME HAVE A USER ASSOCIATED SOUNDTRACK YES 1306 NO LAUNCH THE SELECTED GAME 1308 AND PLAY THE USER ASSOCIATED SOUNDTRACK PRESENT THE USER WITH AN OPTION TO SELECT
6. network 302 The network 302 represents any of a wide variety of data communications networks It may include public portions e g the Internet as well as private portions e g a residential Local Area Network LAN as well as combinations of public and private portions Net work 302 may be implemented using any one or more of a wide variety of conventional communications media includ ing both wired and wireless media Any of a wide variety of communications protocols can be used to communicate data via network 302 including both public and proprietary protocols Examples of such protocols include TCP IP IPX SPX NetBEUI etc In addition to gaming systems 100 one or more online services 304 1 304 s may be accessible via the network 302 to provide various services for the participants such as hosting online games serving downloadable music or video files hosting gaming competitions serving stream ing audio video files and the like The network gaming environment 300 may further involve a key distribution center 306 that plays a role in authenticating individual players and or gaming systems 100 to one another as well as online services 304 The distribution center 306 distributes 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 keys and service tickets to valid participants that may then be used to form games amongst multiple players or to purchase services from the online services 304 Th
7. plays a game the user can choose to listen to the game s default soundtrack or listen to a different soundtrack If the user becomes tired of the game s default soundtrack the user can create a new soundtrack and associate that soundtrack with the game title such that the new soundtrack is played when the game is launched instead 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 of the game s default soundtrack This new soundtrack is referred to as a user associated soundtrack The process 1300 begins when a user selects a game to play block 1302 The game may be selected for example by inserting a game disc in the portable media drive 106 by selecting a game from list of games stored on the hard disk drive 108 or by selecting a game from an online source The console application 260 determines whether the selected game has a user associated soundtrack block 1304 If the selected game has a user associated soundtrack the game is launched and the user associated soundtrack is played dur ing the execution of the game block 1306 If the selected game does not have a user associated soundtrack the console application 260 presents the user with an option to select a soundtrack or play the game using the default soundtrack block 1308 Next the console application 260 determines whether the user selected a soundtrack or the default soundtrack block 1310 If the user selects the default game soundtrac
8. the memory devices in the console The settings area 418 allows users to preview currently set options as well as adjust the settings as desired The console application 260 which implements the uni form media portal model 400 is stored in the hard disk drive 208 of the console 102 The console application 260 is loaded each time the console is powered on When power is initially applied and before presenting the main menu or loading a title the console application 260 runs through an initialization cycle US 6 878 067 B2 7 FIG 5 illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface 500 depicting the main menu of the gaming system The main menu UI 500 is generated by the console UI applica tion 260 and depicted on the television or other display The main menu UI 500 contains the five menu elements a games element 502 a music element 504 a movies element 506 a memory element 508 and a setting element 510 These elements provide the navigation entry points for the five level one areas of the uniform media portal model 400 namely the games collection 404 the music collection 406 the movie collection 408 the memory 416 and the settings 418 Environmental background audio may be played when entering the main menu to further enhance the user envi ronment The focus on the main menu UI 500 is initially placed on the games element 502 but other default positions may be alternatively employed Any of the four controllers 104 1 1
9. 04 4 may be used to navigate the console user interface The main menu is navigated from left to right with any of the connected controller thumbsticks D pad and left analog thumbstick actions are treated the same The console UI application 260 recognizes all button presses and thumbstick movements from every controller 104 so moves from multiple thumbsticks simultaneously may result in a tug of war navigation In one implementation the navi gation does not wrap once the user has reached the far left or right extent of the main menu UI 500 thus attempting to move right once the user has reached the settings element 510 or to move left once the user has reached the games element 502 will have no effect A select element 512 allows the user to select the focused element from among the five main menu elements 502 510 The button on the controller is used to control the select element 512 and hence the graphical select element 512 illustrates an within the element Upon selection the console UI application navigates to the selected area FIG 6 is a flow diagram of the main menu navigation process 600 that is performed after the gaming system is initialized The process 600 is implemented in software as computer executable instructions that are executed by the CPU 200 to perform the operations illustrated as blocks The process generally discerns which main menu element is selected and navigates to the selected area
10. 2 US 6 878 067 B2 oe 300 KEY DISTRIBUTION 306 CENTER 304 1 c i 73 ONLIN RVICE X N HARD DISK DRIVE REMOTE STORAGE PORTABLE MEDIUM MEMORY UNIT S U S Patent 416 Apr 12 2005 Sheet 4 of 12 404 GAMES COLLECTION GAMES PLAY AREA 410 US 6 878 067 B2 y 400 402 406 MUSIC COLLECTION Music PLAY AREA 412 Fig 4 408 MOVIE COLLECTION MoviE PLAY AREA 414 418 U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 5 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 6 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 O 602 604 YES PRESENT GAMES COLLECTION MENU NO 608 YES PRESENT Music COLLECTION MENU NO 612 YES PRESENT MOVIE PLAYER NO 616 MEMORY YES PRESENT MEMORY SELECTED COLLECTION MENU NO 620 YES PRESENT SETTINGS COLLECTION MENU NO U S Patent 702 12 2005 Sheet 7 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 700 G ITEMS o TUSE COLL N SOUNDTRACK L SOUNDTRACK 2 Y SOUNDTRACK 3 CN SOUNDTRACK 4 SOUNDTRACK 5 SOUNDTRACK 6 SOUNDTRACK 7 Y s OG Zi PE S 4 TRACK DAVID BOWIE MEM SAVE EARTHLING F Ph d y 774 de ct fu 800 dAavidc GOWIE BEA 28 53 104 7 802 17 26 14 155 03 33 Ea Ry NU 1 TRACK 2 TRACK 3 TRACK 4 TRACK 5 TRACK 6 TRACK 7 TRACK 8 9 N PrP
11. Descriptive text 708 1 n items is positioned beside the main legend Music Collection to indicate the number of titles in the music collection The list 702 displays a limited number of music titles e g eight titles When a user first enters the music collection after purchasing their console there will be zero titles in the music collection 1 0 items In this situation the music collection menu 700 is bypassed and the user is navigated to the music player screen shown and described below with respect to FIG 8 The title of the music player screen is no audio CD and all of the playback buttons in the area are disabled The user may only navigate back to the main menu 500 FIG 5 If the user only has a single audio disc in the portable media drive or a single soundtrack in the music collection the user is automatically navigated past the music collection menu 700 when coming from the main menu and is taken directly to the music player screen As the user creates multiple soundtracks and stores them in the hard disk drive the music collection menu 700 is no longer bypassed but instead presents the available soundtracks in the list 702 When the descriptive text 708 indicates that there are more music titles than shown on list 702 e g n gt 8 up down scroll arrows are added to the list 702 to represent that more titles are available The user can move among music titles in list 702 by using the up and down di
12. KNEWS Rick Lehrbaum LinuxDEvices com Special to ZDNet Linux fuels game console plus Jul 7 2000 3 pages CNET Gamecenter com Todd Mowatt Indrema Linux Based Console Aug 11 2000 2 pages Planet GeForce Interviews John Gildred of Indrema on the L600 Interviewed by Christopher Razor Gordon Oct 19 2000 5 pages Links 386CD 1995 Access Software Inc pp 1 87 Web page printout Daily Radar com Nov 13 2000 Review of Metropolis Street Racer game 5 pages User Manual Metropolis Street Racer game SEGA Enter prises Ltd 2000 18 pages cited by examiner U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 1 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 108 132 2 U S Patent Apr 12 2005 GAME CONSOLE 10 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT 200 LEVEL 1 CACHE LEVEL 2 CACHE 210 212 FLAsH ROM MEMORY 204 3D GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT 220 AUDIO PROCESSING MEMORY UNIT 224 CONTROLLER 202 USB HosT CONTROLLER 230 RAM MEMORY 206 ATA CABLE HARD DISK DRIVE 208 PORTABLE MEDIA DRIVE 106 DuAL CONTROLLER PORT SUBASSEMBLY 240 1 FRONT PANEL y o SUBASSEMBLY 242 Sheet 2 of 12 US 6 878 067 B2 VIDEO ENCODER 222 SYSTEM POWER SuPPLY MODULE DUAL CONTROLLER PORT SUBASSEMBLY 240 2 CONTROLLER CONTROLLER Cy 4 CONTROLLER CONTROLLER 104 1 104 2 104 3 104 4 140 3 114 1400 1400 140 4 Fig mr 140 6 140 8 U S Patent Apr 12 2005 Sheet 3 of 1
13. P3 files may be stored locally on the hard disk drive or available from an online source Audio DVDs 1016 and 1018 typically include multiple audio tracks Soundtrack 1002 may include one or more audio tracks from one or more audio DVDs FIG 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 1100 for creating a new soundtrack The process 1100 is implemented in software as computer executable instructions that are executed by the CPU 200 to perform the operations illus trated as blocks Initially the gaming system 100 creates a new soundtrack file to receive the selected audio tracks block 1102 The user is given the opportunity to name the soundtrack If the user does not provide a name a default name Soundtrack n is applied to the soundtrack The default name can later be changed by the user At block 1104 the console application 260 presents a list of audio sources from which to retrieve or copy audio tracks Next the user selects an audio source from the list of audio sources block 1106 The console application 260 then presents a list of audio tracks available from the selected audio source block 1108 The user then selects one or more audio tracks from the list to include in the soundtrack block 1110 At block 1112 the console application 260 retrieves the selected audio tracks and adds the audio tracks to the soundtrack If necessary the console application 260 con verts the retrieved audio files into WMA format For example a
14. ROM 204 and RAM 206 are integrated onto a common module 214 In this implementation ROM 204 is configured as a flash ROM that is connected to the memory controller 202 via a PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect bus and a ROM bus neither of which are shown RAM 206 is configured as multiple DDR SDRAM Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM that are independently controlled by the memory controller 202 via separate buses not shown The hard disk drive 208 and portable media drive 106 are connected to the memory controller via the PCI bus and an ATA AT Attachment bus 216 A 3D graphics processing unit 220 and a video encoder 222 form a video processing pipeline for high speed and high resolution graphics processing Data is carried from the graphics processing unit 220 to the video encoder 222 via a digital video bus not shown An audio processing unit 224 and an audio codec coder decoder 226 form a correspond ing audio processing pipeline with high fidelity and stereo processing Audio data is carried between the audio pro cessing unit 224 and the audio codec 226 via a communi cation link not shown The video and audio processing pipelines output data to an ANV audio video port 228 for transmission to the television or other display In the illus trated implementation the video and audio processing com ponents 220 228 are mounted on the module 214 Also implemented on the module 214 are a USB host controller 230 and a n
15. ULT SOUNDTRACK New 1314 1316 GAME HAVE A USER ASSCCIATED PRESENT THE USER WITH AVAILABLE SOUNDTRACKS LAUNCH THE SELECTED GAME AND PLAY THE SELECTED SOUNDTRACK 5 791 992 A 8 1998 Crump et al 5 876 286 A 3 1999 Lee 5 878 134 A 3 1999 Handelman et al 5 896 125 A 4 1999 Niedzwiecki 5 917 256 A 6 1999 Broadbent II 5 969 283 A 10 1999 Looney et al 5 973 683 A 10 1999 Cragun et al 5 978 920 A 11 1999 Lee 5 993 319 11 1999 Aoyama 6 001 015 A 12 1999 Nishiumi et al 6 009 433 A 12 1999 Kurano et al 6 025 869 A 2 2000 Stas et al 6 115 079 A 9 2000 McRae 6 224 485 B1 5 2001 Dickinson et al Continued FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS EP 0889420 1 1999 EP 1126425 8 2001 WO WO 0040027 7 2000 WO WO 01 05477 1 2001 WO WO 01 08148 2 2001 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Stalling Cryptography and network security Principles and Practice Second Edition Prentice Hall 1999 pp 330 and 333 338 Continued Primary Examiner Kim Nguyen 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Lee amp Hayes PLLC 57 ABSTRACT A gaming system includes a game console that executes an application that creates and plays soundtracks through the gaming system The application allows a user to create soundtracks by copying audio tracks from one or more audio sources user created soundtrack can be associated with a particular game such that the user created soundtrack is played during execution of the game instead of the game s default soundtrack Durin
16. a United States Patent Blanco US006878067B2 US 6 878 067 B2 Apr 12 2005 10 Patent No 45 Date of Patent 54 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING AND PLAYING SOUNDTRACKS IN A GAMING SYSTEM 75 Inventor Victor Keith Blanco Bothell WA US 73 Assignee Microsoft Corp Redmond WA US Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 0 days 21 Appl No 10 778 643 22 Filed Feb 12 2004 65 Prior Publication Data US 2004 0162140 A1 Aug 19 2004 Related U S Application Data 62 Division of application No 09 802 661 filed on Mar 9 2001 51 Tut CET sao QE Morse A63F 9 24 52 TES ORs aaah edes 463 43 463 35 58 Field of Search 463 30 32 35 38 463 43 44 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 296 476 A 10 1981 Mayer et al 4 432 067 A 2 1984 Nielsen 4 905 280 A 2 1990 Wiedemer 5 382 983 A 1 1995 Kwoh et al 5 459 487 A 10 1995 Bouton 5 550 575 A 8 1996 West et al 5 551 701 A 9 1996 Bouton et al 5 558 330 A 9 1996 Perlman 5 592 651 A 1 1997 Rackman 5 598 276 A 1 1997 Cookson et al 5 634 849 A 6 1997 Abecassis 5 649 862 A 7 1997 Sakaguchi et al 5 716 273 2 1998 Yuen 5 752 883 A 5 1998 Butcher et al SOUNDTRACK iNo 1308 H PRESENT THE USER WITH AN OPTION TO SELECT A SOUNDTRACK OR PLAY GAME USING THE DEFAULT SOUNDTRACK 1310 New SOUNDTRACK OR DEFA
17. ack Thus when a particular user identifies themselves to the game console the game console displays the soundtracks created by that particular user FIG 12 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting an exemplary audio track selection screen 1200 displayed dur ing the creation of a soundtrack Audio track selection screen 1200 includes a list 1202 of available audio tracks e g from an audio disc or an online source and a corresponding list 1204 of audio tracks that are already in the soundtrack The user then selects a single audio track or multiple tracks to be included in the soundtrack The screen 1200 also depicts a status area 1208 that identifies the progress of the total operation The ordering of the audio tracks in list 1204 can be adjusted by dragging a particular audio track to the desired location in the list and releasing the audio track The list 1204 is then reordered to reflect the new location of the audio track A particular implementation of the audio track selection screen may include a name soundtrack button that allows the user to assign a name to the soundtrack The name can be entered using a virtual keyboard or other character input mechanism The audio track selection screen may also include a delete button that allows the user to delete a particular song from the soundtrack After the soundtrack is completed a select element 1206 is activated by the using the A button on the controller This selec
18. acks to a user of the gaming system and identifying the soundtrack selected by the user of the gaming system 4 A method as recited in claim 3 wherein the list of available soundtracks is generated by identifying soundtracks stored on a hard disk drive in the gaming system 5 A method as recited in claim 3 wherein the list of available soundtracks is generated by identifying soundtracks associated with the user of the gaming system 6 A method as recited in claim 2 wherein the user associated soundtrack is stored on a storage device in the gaming system 7 method as recited in claim 2 wherein the user associated soundtrack is stored on a hard disk drive con tained in the gaming system 8 A method as recited in claim 2 wherein the user associated soundtrack includes a plurality of audio tracks retrieved from a plurality of sources 9 A computer readable medium for a game console comprising computer executable instructions that when executed direct the game console to 10 15 20 25 30 14 execute a game application and play a first soundtrack associated with the game application pause execution of the game application in response to receiving a request to select a different soundtrack receive identification of a new soundtrack and resume execution of the game application and play the new soundtrack 10 A computer readable medium as recited in claim 9 wherein the computer executable instruction
19. ard disk drive e g Windows Media Audio WMA format or from online streaming sources 3 Digital audio video played from a DVD disc in the portable media drive 106 from a file on the hard disk drive e g Active Streaming Format or from online streaming sources FIG 2 shows functional components of the gaming sys tem 100 in more detail The game console 102 has a central processing unit CPU 200 and a memory controller 202 that facilitates processor access to various types of memory including a flash ROM Read Only Memory 204 RAM Random Access Memory 206 a hard disk drive 208 and the portable media drive 106 The CPU 200 is equipped with a level 1 cache 210 and a level 2 cache 212 to temporarily store data and hence reduce the number of memory access cycles thereby improving processing speed and throughput The CPU 200 memory controller 202 and various memory devices are interconnected via one or more buses including serial and parallel buses a memory bus a periph eral bus and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures By way of example such architectures can include an Industry Standard Architecture ISA bus a Micro Channel Architecture MCA bus an Enhanced ISA EISA bus a Video Electronics Standards Association VESA local bus and a Peripheral Component Intercon nects PCI bus also known as a Mezzanine bus As one suitable implementation the CPU 200 memory controller 202
20. ates a graphical user interface depicting a music collection menu that is accessible from the main menu FIG 8 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting a music player that is accessible from the music collection menu FIG 9 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting a screen display used to select an existing soundtrack or create a new soundtrack FIG 10 illustrates the creation of a soundtrack using a variety of different audio sources FIG 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for creating a new soundtrack FIG 12 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting a screen displayed during the creation of a soundtrack US 6 878 067 B2 3 FIG 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a process that determines which soundtrack to play when a particular game is launched DETAILED DESCRIPTION The method and apparatus discussed herein allows users to create and play soundtracks in a gaming system soundtrack can be played by itself or played at the same time game is executed thereby replacing the soundtrack pro vided with the game The soundtrack is created by copying audio data or audio tracks from one or more audio sources and storing the audio data as a soundtrack on a hard disk drive The audio sources may include audio CDs audio DVDs game discs and online sources that contain music files available for download Since the soundtrack is played from the hard disk drive it is not necessary to remove the
21. controllers are USB Universal Serial Bus compatible and are connected to the console 102 via serial cables 130 The controller 102 may be equipped with any of a wide variety of user interaction mechanisms As illustrated in FIG 1 each controller 104 is equipped with two thumbsticks 132 1 and 132 2 a D pad 134 buttons 136 and two triggers 138 These mechanisms are merely representative and other known gaming mechanisms may be substituted for or added to those shown in FIG 1 A memory unit MU 140 may be inserted into the controller 104 to provide additional and portable storage Portable memory units enable users to store game param eters and port them for play on other consoles In the described implementation each controller 104 is configured to accommodate two memory units 140 although more or less than two units may be employed in other implementa tions The gaming system 100 is capable of playing for example games music and videos With the different storage offerings titles can be played from the hard disk drive or the portable medium 108 in drive 106 from an online source or from a memory unit 140 A sample of what the gaming system 100 is capable of playing back include 10 15 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 1 Game titles played from CD and DVD from the hard disk drive or from an online source 2 Digital music played from a CD in the portable media drive 106 from a file on the h
22. d apparatus described herein provide the ability to create edit and play soundtracks in a gaming system The soundtracks include one or more audio tracks copied or retrieved from one or more audio sources such as an audio CD an audio DVD a game disc or an online source containing audio files Soundtracks are stored on a hard disk drive in the gaming system and can be played back 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 60 65 2 through the gaming system Additionally soundtracks stored in the gaming system can be associated with a particular game such that the soundtrack is played instead of the game s default soundtrack while the game executes This system allows the user to choose or create a soundtrack based on the user s audio preferences and does not limit the user to the game soundtrack provided by the game devel oper In the described implementation the gaming system includes a game console and one or more controllers The game console is equipped with a hard disk drive a portable media drive and broadband connectivity A console appli cation stored on the hard disk drive is loaded when the game console is powered on The console application presents a menu hierarchy that includes various soundtrack creation and soundtrack selection menus The soundtrack creation menu allows the user to select various audio tracks to be included in a soundtrack The soundtrack selection menu allows the user to select a so
23. d on Jun 18 2004 Suarez Sony PlayStation 2 The Digital Bits Online Nov 15 2000 retrieved from the internet URL http ww w thedigitalbits com reviews ps2 sonyps2 html retrieved on Jun 18 2004 Perenson Play Back Media Your Way PC World Online Jun 1 2000 retrieved from the Internet url http www pc world com resource printable 0aid1700100 asp retrieved on Jul 8 2004 6 2001 Walker et al 6 2002 Flliott 1 2003 Huber et al 8 2004 Eliott Thurrott Windows Media Player 7 reviewed Winsupersite Online Aug 15 2000 Retireved from the internet URL http www winsupersite com reviews wmp7 asp retrieved on Jun 18 2004 Takahasi Microsoft goes gaming Product Develop ment Electronic Business May 2000 2 pages Press Pass Xbox to Deliver Ultimate Console Gaming Experience San Jose CA Mar 10 2000 3 pages 2001 IGN com What is the 64DD Sep 17 1997 9 pages IGN com The 64DD Nintendo s Disk Drive Everything you ever wanted to know about the N64 s first major add on Jan 28 1998 7 pages IGN com IGN64 s Ultimate 64DD FAQ Everything you ever wanted to know about the upcoming disk drive add on Updated 12 13 Dec 15 1999 12 pages IGN com The 64DD Connection Here s how the 64DD and the Nintendo 64 connect Oct 20 1999 5 pages c netNEWS com U S version of Playstation 2 to have modem hard drive By Bloomberg News Apr 14 2000 2 pages ZDNetU
24. e game console 102 The game console 102 implements a uniform media portal model that provides a consistent user interface and naviga tion hierarchy to move users through various entertainment areas The portal model offers a convenient way to access content from multiple different media types game data audio data and video data regardless of the media type inserted into the portable media drive 106 To implement the uniform media portal model a console user interface UI application 260 is stored on the hard disk drive 208 When the game console is powered on various portions of the console application 260 are loaded into RAM 206 and or caches 210 212 and executed on the CPU 200 The console application 260 presents a graphical user inter face that provides a consistent user experience when navi gating to different media types available on the game con sole The gaming system 100 may be operated as a standalone system by simply connecting the system to a television or other display In this standalone mode the gaming system 100 allows one or more players to play games watch movies or listen to music However with the integration of broadband connectivity made available through the network interface 232 the gaming system 100 may further be oper ated as a participant in a larger network gaming community FIG 3 shows an exemplary network gaming environment 300 that interconnects multiple gaming systems 100 1 100 g via a
25. e network gaming environment 300 introduces another memory source available to individual gaming systems 100 online storage In addition to the portable storage medium 108 the hard disk drive 208 and the memory unit s 140 the gaming system 100 1 can also access data files available at remote storage locations via the network 302 as exemplified by remote storage 308 at online service 304 s FIG 4 shows the uniform media portal model 400 It provides a main menu 402 that acts as a common interface for multiple media types including game media movie media and music media The main menu 402 presents the user with a set of navigation choices that accurately describe what they would like to interact with on their console This top level menu is a simple representation of the three primary entertainment areas available on the console thus presenting the following choices Games This entertainment area pertains to a user s game experience and gaming media Music This entertainment area is dedicated to the music context and audio media Movies This entertainment area relates to a user s movie experience and video media The model s navigation hierarchy follows the media theme Beneath the main menu 402 are collections of titles that pertain to their particular media types currently avail able to the user In this example a user can navigate from the main menu 402 to a games collection 404 that lists currently available game
26. etwork interface 232 The USB host controller 230 is coupled to the CPU 200 and the memory controller 202 via a bus e g PCI bus and serves as host for the peripheral controllers 104 1 104 4 The network inter face 232 provides access to a network e g Internet home network etc and may be any of a wide variety of various wired or wireless interface components including an Ether net card a modem a Bluetooth module a cable modem and the like US 6 878 067 B2 5 The game console 102 has two dual controller support subassemblies 240 1 and 240 2 with each subassembly supporting two game controllers 104 1 104 4 A front panel I O subassembly 242 supports the functionality of the power button 112 and the eject button 114 as well as any LEDs light emitting diodes or other indicators exposed on the outer surface of the game console The subassemblies 240 1 240 2 and 242 are coupled to the module 214 via one or more cable assemblies 244 Eight memory units 140 1 140 8 are illustrated as being connectable to the four controllers 104 1 104 4 i e two memory units for each controller Each memory unit 140 offers additional storage on which games game parameters and other data may be stored When inserted into a controller the memory unit 140 can be accessed by the memory controller 202 Asystem power supply module 250 provides power to the components of the gaming system 100 A fan 252 cools the circuitry within th
27. g execution of a game a user may change the soundtrack being played 14 Claims 12 Drawing Sheets 1800 LAUNCH THE SELECTED GAME AND PLAY THE USER ASSOCIATED SOUNDTRACK 1312 LAUNCH THE SELECTED GAME AND PLAY THE DEFAULT GAME SOUNDTRACK US 6 878 067 B2 Page 2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 6 230 320 B1 5 2001 Gakumura 6 280 327 B1 8 2001 Leifer et al 6 280 329 B1 8 2001 Kondo et al 6 298 441 B1 10 2001 Handelman et al 6 299 535 B1 10 2001 Tanaka 6 309 301 10 2001 Sano 463 35 6 312 336 B1 11 2001 Handelman et al 6 393 430 B1 5 2002 Van Ryzin 6 396 531 B1 5 2002 Gerszberg et al 6 464 585 10 2002 Miyamoto et al 463 35 6 468 160 B2 10 2002 Eliott 6 535 269 B2 3 2003 Sherman et al 6 599 194 B1 7 2003 Smith et al 6 712 704 B2 3 2004 Eliott 6 769 989 B2 8 2004 Smith et al 2001 0004609 A1 2002 0077177 A1 2003 0008715 A1 2004 0162137 A1 OTHER PUBLICATIONS CES Bill Gates zeigt die Xbox Golem de Online Jan 6 2000 Retrieved from the internet url http dyn1 golem de cgi bin usisapi d11 forprint id11561 gt retrieved Jun 18 2004 PlayStation 2 Instruction Manual Online 2000 Sony Computer Entertainment Retrieved from the internet url www playstation com retrieved on Jun 18 2004 PS2 Frequently Asked Questions Playstation2 Online Jul 29 2000 Retrieved from the Internet URL http www allps2 net ps2 faq html retrieve
28. k the game is launched and the default game soundtrack is played during the execution of the game block 1312 If the user selects to choose a soundtrack the user is presented with the available soundtracks stored on the gaming system block 1314 The game is then launched and the selected soundtrack is played during the execution of the game block 1316 When the user selects a soundtrack to play instead of the default soundtrack the user is presented with the option of making the soundtrack change permanent If the change is made permanent the selected soundtrack will be played instead of the default soundtrack each time the game is played Thus the user is not required to select the new soundtrack each time the game is played the system will remember the new soundtrack until the user specifically changes the soundtrack or specifically requests the gaming console to begin using the default game soundtrack Since the soundtrack is played from the hard disk drive the playback of the soundtrack does not interfere with the execution of the game from the game disc The game disc remains in the game console while the soundtrack executes thereby eliminating the game disruptions that would occur if the game disc was removed and replaced with an audio CD The user can change soundtracks in the middle of a game by pausing the game and selecting a different soundtrack The game is then un paused and game play continues at the point
29. lect from available audio discs in the portable media drive 106 as well as soundtracks they have previously created and stored on the hard disk drive 208 The music collection menu 700 includes a list 702 of the available audio discs in the portable media drive if any and soundtrack files on the hard disk drive An example of a suitable audio disc is a Redbook audio CD compact disc An example of a suitable soundtrack file is one or more WMA files copied from an audio CD an audio DVD a game disc an online source or other audio source An orb 704 contains a graphic of the currently selected audio item and a metatext panel 706 posts information about the current audio element As the user navigates over the list 702 of the available audio discs and soundtracks corre sponding summary information is posted in the metadata panel 706 The following information is displayed for the currently selected audio disc or soundtrack Name of the audio element as it appears in the list Total number of tracks Total playing time for the audio element in minutes and seconds In this example the audio CD is highlighted in list 702 and hence a CD image is presented in orb 704 As indicated by the metatext panel 706 the audio CD is the 14 track album Earthling by David Bowie When network access is available artist and other information such as track titles and release date can be retrieved from online services over the Internet at any time
30. ler FIG 9 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting a example screen display 900 used to select an existing soundtrack or create a new soundtrack As noted above users can create their own soundtracks by copying audio tracks from one or more audio sources Screen display 900 provides users with a list 902 of all soundtracks available to the gaming system Such soundtracks may be stored on the hard disk drive 208 a portable disc medium 108 in drive 106 memory unit 140 or at remote storage 308 at an online source 304 If the user has created at least one soundtrack the list 902 depicts one or more placards of available soundtracks A user entered name or a default name soundtrack 1 soundtrack 2 etc is shown on the placards A New Soundtrack button 904 is positioned beside the list to enable the user to create a new soundtrack Upon selection of a soundtrack in the list 902 or the New Soundtrack button 904 the user is navigated to a track selection screen described below with respect to FIG 12 If the user has not yet created a soundtrack the list 902 of available soundtracks is empty Upon choosing the New Soundtrack button 904 the user is presented with an area for text entry and a virtual keyboard for typing a new name for the soundtrack By default the name given to the soundtrack will be Soundtrack 1 but any keyboard input from the user will replace this default title with the entered name 10
31. rections of the thumbstick or some other pre defined control mechanism The list 702 may be con figured to wrap or not wrap when the user reaches the top or the bottom of the list A select element 710 enables user selection of the highlighted title from list 702 using the button on the controller Selection of a game title navigates the user to the music player menu A back element 712 facilitates navigation back to the main menu UI 500 by pressing the button on the controller FIG 8 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting an exemplary music player 800 that is accessible from the music collection menu or where no music titles are listed upon loading a music disc The music player allows the user US 6 878 067 B2 9 to play back the current audio disc in the portable media drive 106 or previously created soundtracks The music player 800 includes a track list 802 of the available audio tracks and corresponding track lengths an orb 804 that contains a radial spectrum analyzer or other music related visual and a status element 806 that displays the current playback status and timeline of the current track During audio playback the current track being played within the track list 802 is highlighted The status element 806 renders the following information for the user Current time within the current track Visual progress bar for the current track Simple playback icons to denote playback status e g pla
32. s when executed further direct the game console to associate the new soundtrack with the game application 11 A computer readable medium as recited in claim 9 wherein the new soundtrack is stored on a hard disk drive in the game console 12 A game console comprising a memory a processor coupled to the memory and an application stored in the memory and executable on the processor the application configured to play a user associated soundtrack during execution of a game the application further to pause execution of the game in response to receipt of a request to play a new soundtrack wherein the application resumes execution of the game and plays the new soundtrack 13 A game console as recited in claim 12 wherein the application is a console application 14 A game console as recited in claim 12 further com prising a disk drive coupled to the processor wherein the disk drive stores a plurality of soundtracks
33. stem from Sony Corporation provides the ability to play games music and video titles from a disc inserted in the console Certain gaming systems also provide a modem or other mechanism for establishing an online connection to facilitate online gaming Current gaming systems play games that typically include a game soundtrack The game soundtrack is stored on a disc along with the game ie game disc This game soundtrack includes music that is created by or selected by the game developer If the user of the gaming system dislikes the game soundtrack or grows tired of the same soundtrack being played repeatedly some gaming systems allow the user to launch the game from the game disc and then replace the game disc with an audio CD that is played by the gaming system while the game is executed However if the game requires additional information from the game disc e g when changing from one level to another the user must remove the audio CD and re insert the game disc After the additional information has been retrieved from the game disc the game disc can be removed from the gaming system and replaced with the audio CD This switching of discs disrupts the gaming experience and is a nuisance to the user The system and method described herein addresses these limitations by providing a mechanism to create soundtracks in a gaming system and to select a soundtrack to be played while executing a particular game SUMMARY The method an
34. t element causes the system to navigate back to the music collection menu A back element 1210 facilitates navigation back to the previous menu by pressing the button on the controller If the user cancels a file copy operation those audio files being copied or retrieved will be lost If a power off occurs while creating a soundtrack any audio files being copied or retrieved will not be included in the soundtrack In a particular implementation soundtracks are stored as one or more WMA files on the gaming system 100 Specifically WMA files for soundtracks are stored in a flat directory on the hard disk drive 208 This directory also contains a text data file that maintains a reference of all WMA files as well as the soundtracks to which each WMA file belongs Because the game console manages the soundtrack directory it is possible to keep this data file up to date An API application program interface may be used to allow a game to query such information as the list of available soundtracks the first audio file of a specific soundtrack the last audio file of a specific soundtrack and the next audio file in a specific soundtrack FIG 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 1300 that determines which soundtrack to play when a particular game is launched The process 1300 is implemented in software as computer executable instructions that are executed by the CPU 200 to perform the operations illustrated as blocks When a user
35. titles Navigation may also be made to a music collection 406 that groups available music titles and a movie collection 408 that groups available movie titles By constructing the hierarchy in terms of media type the user is intuitively presented with titles within any given enter tainment area The titles within the various areas may be stored in any one of many storage locations but such detail is not immediately revealed Thus the uniform media portal model 400 offers a coherent way to access multiple media types regardless of the media type inserted into the gaming system s portable media drive Area specific features such as high scores on a game or creating a soundtrack are left for lower levels of the model 400 Thus beneath each collection is the specific play area that pertains to the particular media experience A games play area 410 is navigated through the games collection 404 a music play area 412 is accessed through the music col lection 406 and a movies play area 414 is navigated through the movie collection 408 This organization of the model allows users to select the context of the media type This model thus provides a high level filter on the kinds of media available on the console and what operations may be performed with respect to the media The model 400 also accommodates system areas includ ing a memory area 416 and a settings area 418 The memory area 416 allows users to view memory contents and manage
36. udio tracks from an audio CD or an audio DVD are converted from their native format into WMA format prior to adding the audio tracks to the soundtrack Similarly files are converted from MP3 format to WMA format before adding the audio tracks to the soundtrack At block 1114 the console application 260 determines whether more audio tracks are to be added to the soundtrack This determination is performed for example by querying the user as to whether they want to add more tracks If additional tracks are to be added to the soundtrack the process 1100 returns to block 1104 where the user is presented with a list of audio sources Alternatively the process 1100 may return to block 1106 which allows the user to select another audio track from the same audio source as the previous selection After all audio tracks have been added to the soundtrack the process 1100 returns to the music collection menu block US 6 878 067 B2 11 1116 shown in FIG 7 At this point the music collection menu displays the newly created soundtrack in the list of available soundtracks Each user of a game console 102 can have their soundtracks stored separately from the soundtracks created by other console users For example when a user completes the creation of a new soundtrack the soundtrack is stored in an area on the hard disk drive associated with that user or a user attribute is stored with the soundtrack indicating the creator of the soundtr
37. undtrack for playback or for associating with a particular game such that the soundtrack is played when the particular game is launched When a game is launched the gaming system determines whether the launched game has a user associated soundtrack If so the user associated soundtrack is retrieved from the hard disk drive and played while the game is executed If the launched game does not have a user associated soundtrack the gaming system either 1 plays the default game soundtrack provided by the game developer or 2 allows the user to select the soundtrack to be played while the game is executed The user of the gaming system can change soundtracks in the middle of a game by pausing the game and selecting a different soundtrack The gaming system then resumes execution of the game and begins playing the newly selected soundtrack BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 illustrates a gaming system that implements a uniform media portal architecture FIG 2 is a block diagram of the gaming system FIG 3 illustrates a network gaming system in which the FIG 1 gaming system is connected via a network to other consoles and services FIG 4 illustrates a navigation hierarchy employed by the gaming system FIG 5 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting the main menu of the gaming system FIG 6 is a flow diagram of the main menu navigation process that is performed after the gaming system is initial ized FIG 7 illustr
38. where the game was previously paused The new soundtrack is played back from the hard disk drive while the game executes from the game disc Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and or methodological acts it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described Rather the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claimed invention What is claimed is 1 A method comprising executing a game application and playing a first soundtrack on a gaming system receiving a request to select a different soundtrack determining a new soundtrack to be played continuing execution of the game application and playing the new soundtrack on the gaming system and pausing execution of the game application after receiving the request to select the different soundtrack US 6 878 067 B2 13 2 A method comprising executing a game application and playing a user associated soundtrack on a gaming system receiving a request to select a different soundtrack pausing execution of the game application determining a new soundtrack to be played and resuming execution of the game application and playing the new soundtrack on the gaming system 3 A method as recited in claim 2 wherein determining a new soundtrack to be played includes displaying a list of available soundtr
39. y pause stop repeat random A transport control panel 812 is displayed along the bottom of the music player for playback control An example control panel 812 includes a play pause button a stop button a skip forward button a skip back button a random track selection button and a repeat button When the user first navigates into the music player from the main menu or the music collection the play button in the transport control panel 812 is in focus by default Buttons on the game controller 104 may be mapped to the transport control buttons For example a white button on the controller might be mapped to the play pause toggle button the black con troller button might be mapped to the stop button the left trigger might be mapped to the previous track button and the Right trigger might be mapped to the next track button A copy song button 816 is also displayed in the music player UI 800 When the copy song button 816 is selected the user is navigated into the soundtrack creation tool with the current audio disc or soundtrack as the source The soundtrack creation tool allows one or more tracks to be copied to a soundtrack The soundtrack creation tool is discussed in greater detail below A select element 808 enables user selection of the high lighted audio track from list 802 using the button on the controller A back element 810 facilitates navigation back to the previous menu by pressing the B button on the control
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