Appeal No. 2005-0988
Application 09/878,592
appears that the launch of a ball or balls in the bonus game can
occur either when the player pushes a button (28) to activate the
firing mechanism (270), or automatically after the initiation
condition or start-bonus outcome occurs in the underlying basic
game.
Mayeroff discloses a slot machine including a secondary
event or bonus game that is initiated by a preselected event or
combination of symbols obtained in the underlying main game. In
column 3, lines 1-30, Mayeroff discusses known types of secondary
event games that are used in the slot machine market and
specifically discloses a popular bonus game known as “WHEEL OF
FORTUNE” that is based on the television game of the same name.
Mayeroff also indicates that the popularity of WHEEL OF FORTUNE
has spawned other secondary event games.
“Plinko” is a document discussing the popularity and play of
the pricing game PLINKO as played on the televison game show THE
PRICE is RIGHT, apparently since early in 1983. After a
contestant is selected via an initial competitive price guessing
round, the contestant gets the opportunity to play a secondary
event game of PLINKO. The play of this relatively simple game is
described in the first paragraph of the “Plinko” document applied
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