U.S. Patent No. 10,561,953: Interactive video game system comprising toys with rewritable memories

Issued February 18, 2020 to Activision Publishing Inc.
Priority Date: December 20, 2013

Summary:
U.S. Patent No. 10,561,953 (the ’953 Patent) relates to a toy with rewritable memory to which game data may be stored and may perform actions to reflect a change in-game. The ’953 Patent details a system comprising a toy, which may be a likeness of a character or item in a video game, and a video game system. The toy may include a speaker, lights, or have haptic feedback, which may be activated upon an action in the game, or game data being stored to its rewritable memory. The rewritable memory may store information on a player’s character, score values, experience levels, weapons, items, or captured/defeated characters, etc. In some embodiments, upon capturing or defeating another character, the player’s character may acquire use of characteristics, powers, and/or attributes from the defeated character, which may be stored in the toy’s memory and cause the toy to perform an audio/visual action. Virtual items collected or discovered may be stored in the toy’s memory and used by the virtual representation of the toy in the video game. 

Abstract:
The invention disclosed herein relates to a video game system comprising a video game console and an object or toy used in connection with the video game console, wherein the object or toy has a rewritable data storage device, and wherein the video game console stores information in the rewritable data storage device in response to game play events occurring in a first gaming session. The stored information is subsequently retrieved by the video game console in a second gaming session, and the retrieved information is used to conduct the game play of the second gaming session.

Illustrative Claim:
1. A system useful in providing videogame play, comprising: a game device including at least one processor; a first toy including rewritable memory storing information relating to a first game character; a peripheral device in communication with the game device, the peripheral device including circuitry for wirelessly commanding reads and writes to the rewritable memory of the toy; the at least one processor configured by program instructions to: load information relating to the first game character from the first toy into the game device through the peripheral; provide gameplay in which a first game character under control of user inputs to the game device encounters a second game character, the second game character controlled by video game instructions of the video game; detect a game play event indicating capture of the second game character; command writing of information of the second game character to memory of a second toy; and command presentation of a sensory perceptible simulated transfer of the second game character to the toy.