New Qubica Scoring...Now Completed!

BOWLING'S GOT A NEW LOOK

If trying to get a bowling ball down the alley just isn't enough fun for you, try bowling at Leisure Lanes on Columbia Avenue and Manheim Bowling Lanes.

There, your bold attempts will be rewarded by graphic fanfare, even if you left one lonely pin standing in the corner of the alley. On the computerized screen that keeps your score, an animated bowling pin uses a bicycle pump to inflate a large number 9.

Rolled a 7? The cartoon band will play for you.   Threw a split?  The animated bowling pin, dressed like a king, knights a bowling ball which breaks in half as the word "split" appears on the screen.   Gutter balls yield a dead chicken.

The new Qubica computer system was installed at Leisure Lanes of Labor Day, only the second bowling alley in the county and among the first 30 in the state to use it, according to Brian Cain, a Qubica installer.  The first was at Manheim Bowling Lanes, where the owner, Cain, field-tested the product for the company.

The Qubica system is designed to interact with the bowlers, to help them have fun so they will come back and bowl more often, said Cain, who installed the Leisure Lanes system.  It's fun for the bowlers, he said, because it gives the adults something to tease each other about and it encourages kids to keep trying.  The system also keeps track of the score and records the speed of the ball.

Depending on the version of the system, bowlers can combine their bowling game with a game of chance, such as Lucky Draw, poker, tick-tack-toe or cubes, Cain said.

Birthday party packages are available with some Qubica systems.  The birthday bow's or girl's picture can be scanned into the computer so the picture will show up on the scoring screen every time he or she throws a ball.