TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, an information storage medium, and a program.

BACKGROUND ART

There are video distribution sites which distribute videos registered by users (see Patent Literature 1, for example). In some video distribution sites, many videos that show television (TV) game contents played by users are registered.

A user who finds it hard to clear a TV game may find a hint to clear the game by viewing videos registered in video distribution sites that show how other users played the game. There are also cases where a user becomes interested in a game that is shown on a video registered in a video distribution site and purchases the game.

CITATION LIST—PATENT LITERATURE

[Patent Literature 1] US 2008/0276272 A1

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

Viewing videos registered in video distribution sites that show contents of a game played by other users may make a user want to try the game. If in that case there is a mechanism that enables the user to, for example, specify a play point in the video that the user is viewing and to start playing the game from a game situation corresponding to the play point, the user would enjoy the game more. This applies not only to videos registered in video distribution sites but to any videos that show TV game contents played by users.

The present invention has been made in view of the problem described above, and an object of the present invention is therefore to provide an information processing system, an information processing method, an information storage medium, and a program that enable a user to start playing a game from a game situation corresponding to a play point in a video that shows a play content of the game.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, according to the present invention, there is provided an information processing system, including: an execution request receiving unit that receives an execution request for a game which is associated with a play point in a video that shows a play content of the game; a game situation data obtaining unit that obtains, from a storage unit that stores pieces of game situation data which indicate situations of the game that are associated with play points in the video, a game situation data that is identified based on a play point associated with the execution request; and a game executing unit that starts executing the game from a situation that is indicated by the game situation data obtained by the game situation data obtaining unit.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an information processing method, including: an execution request receiving step of receiving an execution request for a game which is associated with a play point in a video that shows a play content of the game; a game situation data obtaining step of obtaining, from a storage unit that stores pieces of game situation data which indicate situations of the game that are associated with play points in the video, game situation data corresponding to a play point associated with the execution request; and a game executing step of starting executing the game from a situation that is indicated by the game situation data obtained in the game situation data obtaining step.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable information storage medium having stored thereon a program for causing a computer to function as: an execution request receiving unit that receives an execution request for a game which is associated with a play point in a video that shows a play content of the game; a game situation data obtaining unit that obtains, from a storage unit that stores pieces of game situation data which indicate situations of the game that are associated with play points in the video, game situation data corresponding to a play point associated with the execution request; and a game executing unit that starts executing the game from a situation that is indicated by the game situation data obtained by the game situation data obtaining unit.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to function as: an execution request receiving unit that receives an execution request for a game which is associated with a play point in a video that shows a play content of the game; a game situation data obtaining unit that obtains, from a storage unit that stores pieces of game situation data which indicate situations of the game that are associated with play points in the video, game situation data corresponding to a play point associated with the execution request; and a game executing unit that starts executing the game from a situation that is indicated by the game situation data obtained by the game situation data obtaining unit.

According to the present invention, the execution of the game is started from the situation that is indicated by the game situation data identified based on the play point in the video that is associated with the execution request for the game. A user can thus start playing the game from the game situation corresponding to the play point in the video that shows the play content of the game.

According to an aspect of the present invention, during a period of time in which a video showing an already played content of a game is being played, the execution request receiving unit receives an execution request for the game that is associated with a play point in the video. This way, the user can start playing the game from the game situation corresponding to the play point in the video that shows the already played content of the game.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, the game situation data obtaining unit obtains game situation data that is identified based on a play point in the video of a frame image that has been played at a time when the execution request for the game has been made. This way, the user can start playing the game from a game situation corresponding to a scene that has been played at the time when the execution request for the game has been made.

In this aspect, the game situation data obtaining unit may obtain game situation data associated with a play point that is closest to the play point in the video of the frame image that has been played at the time when the execution request for the game has been made, out of at least some of the pieces of game situation data stored in the storage unit. This way, the user can start playing the game from a situation that is closest to the situation of a scene that has been played at the time when the execution request for the game has been made, out of game situations that are indicated respectively by the at least some of pieces of game situation data stored in the storage unit.

Further, in this aspect, the game situation data obtaining unit may obtain, out of the pieces of game situation data stored in the storage unit, a piece of game situation data that is associated with a play point indicating a time that precedes a time indicated by the play point in the video of the frame image that has been played at the time when the execution request for the game has been made. This way, the user can start playing the game from a situation that is closest to the situation of a scene that has been played at the time when the execution request for the game has been made, out of game situations preceding the scene that has been played at the time when the execution request for the game has been made.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, the game situation data obtaining unit obtains, out of the pieces of game situation data stored in the storage unit, game situation data that is associated with a play point indicating a time closest to a time obtained by going back a given length of time from a time indicated by the play point of the frame image included in the video that has been played at the time when the execution request for the game has been made. This way, the user can start playing the game from a situation that is closest to the game situation of a scene reached by going back the given length of time from the scene that has been played at the time when the execution request for the game has been made.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, the storage unit includes pieces of game situation data at times when game stages corresponding to stages of progress of the game are started, and the game situation data obtaining unit obtains game situation data at a start of one of the game stages that corresponds to the play point associated with the execution request. This way, the user can start playing the game from the beginning of the game stage corresponding to the play point that is associated with the execution request for the game.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, the information processing system further includes a game situation data generating unit that generates the game situation data which indicates a current situation of the game that is being executed during a period of time in which the game is being executed. This way, the game situation data indicating the current situation of the game that is being executed is generated.

