I was on the Storm website, looking up information about the Vertigo, and I happened to notice the Match Maker link.  I tried it out to see what might be right for me.  As expected, when I put in my specs and chose "oily" for lane conditions, it recommended the Vertigo.  Other suggestions were Triple Xtreme, Triple X Factor, Super Charge, and Fear Factor.

I then went back to find out what they would recommend for dry conditions.  Guess what - Vertigo!  The other recommendations were also the same.  After that, I thought I'd check medium conditions, and as I suspected, the recommendations were the same.

I am not a Storm basher - I throw everyone's equipment.  However, I sense a credibility issue here.

BTW, I have ordered a Vertigo.  I figure I can't go wrong!  
--------------------
RW (THB)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,...
--------------------
www.dynothane.com

storms match maker is made up more for the bowler....you can adjust with any ball on the lane with simple coverstock adjustments, had positions, things of that nature....they are recommending the balls more based on the attributes you put in about yourself....this is from my personal experience....if you change the attributes around it will change or at least it did for me
--------------------
Trey

Hey if ya gotta poop, DO IT!!!!!

And if you notice, it rarely matches you with a hit or hot rod, It will always go with one of the wires or a high end ball.
--------------------
stanski

Thanks for the replies, guys.  The idea of a proficient bowler being able to adjust his/her equipment/game to the conditions at hand makes sense, at least to a degree.  However, based on the specs for the Vertigo, there is no way I would drill it up to use on dry lanes - not even with a weak layout and the cover polished to a mirror finish.  It just doesn't make sense.

I'll take that a step further.  As a pro shop professional, it very unlikely that I could, in good conscience, recommend a ball that is being marketed as an oil ball to a customer seeking a dry lane ball, no matter what the proficiency level and/or versatility of the bowler.  If that bowler is truly an expert, he/she would probably give me a funny look, and walk out of the shop.

Let's look at the other side of the coin for a minute.  I would say that most people who have reached the top level of the game (expert) are going to build and maintain an arsenal of balls.  That is one of the reasons that ball companies make balls that react differently.  I submit that an expert bowler is more likely to buy more than one bowling ball from a manufacturer to fill out his/her arsenal, and therefore, it would behoove a company like Storm to taylor their Match Maker feature to make recommendations that make a bit more sense.  They might end up selling more bowling balls that way.

Having said all that, I suspect that it would be difficult to come up with an algorithm to do everything I've talked about.  I guess that's why there is really no substitute for the kind of service that a pro shop professional can give a customer.
--------------------
RW (THB)