US Patent 7201661 Video gaming device and communications system

A video gaming device includes a game computer which is connected to a central computer and a plurality of player stations connected to the game computer. Connection of the player stations may be effected using an interface device which includes at least one serial port which has a transmit line for transmitting data to a player station and a receive line for receiving data from a player station, input ports and output ports for communication with the game computer, and a processor for routing data between the said serial port and the input and output ports.