After an opponent is determined by a search made in a communication character service, there may be effected transition to an action game service under control of the host computer, or a fight may be performed between terminal apparatuses that directly communicate with each other with temporary...http://www.google.com/patents/US5827120?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5827120 - Network game system having communication characters for conversation changing into action characters for action gaming 
