Ten Pin Massively Multiplaying Bowling

Lanarena scores Elsa card gig

Lanarena has scored a sponsorship deal with ELSA, which will see the German firm's GLADIAC graphics cards power 200 PCs in six UK bowling alleys.

It's a nice deal for Lanarena - but we're not so sure what's in it for ELSA branding. Elsa thinks that players will want the same kind of rig for home as they play in the Lanarena.

But unlike peripatetic LAN parties run by, say Multiplay, Lanarena punters don't bring their own PCs to play. They may not even have their own PCs at home.

And their decision to play computer games in Megabowl bowling centres suggest that they are not hardcore hardware-crunching afficionados.

Not that Lanarena is suggesting this: the company aims to "attract the mass audience for gaming by setting up large open and welcoming venues with a pub-like atmosphere".

Dominic Mulroy, Lanarena MD and chairman of the Virtual Gamers Association (VGA), said the company attracts a "cross section of the public and encourage clubs and associations to come and form teams. We are taking gaming out of the cellar and into the mainstream".

Lanarena aims to open another 14 gaming centres in the UK, helped, no doubt by AMD and Elsa. ®