RePlay Magazine Podcast

Former Wisconsin operator Gene Urso, now 93, has a lot of great stories to tell, but also some valuable wisdom to impart to people in the coin-op amusement industry today, especially the next generation. Chief among them is to get involved, learn from experienced people, contribute, and not be intimidated by successful people. 

Urso, like our host Randy Chilton, served a term as president of the AMOA (Amusement & Music Operators Association) and only wishes he’d joined his state association, AMOA and the VNEA (Valley National 8-Ball League) sooner. Such membership helped him meet and learn from others in the business. That benefited his business, but more importantly, built enduring friendships. 

In his chat with Randy, Gene shares insights on AMOA’s bold NANI initiative (an early game networking plan), how much his wife Nancy contributed to the success of Madison Coin Machine, how if he’d do it all again, he wouldn’t talk business around the family dinner table, and more. 

He’s just as sharp as ever and if you wonder what keeps Gene ticking and so vibrant today, outside of his wife, Nancy, and family, it’s got to be golf. In a classic moment, Gene says, “I get up in the morning and I read the obituaries, and if I'm not there, I go golfing.” You’ll have fun and learn a lot out in this episode, so give it a listen!

This month, Randy Chilton has a real gem for you. Just days after the 2026 Bowl Expo wrapped up in Nashville, he interviewed one of the big names in bowling today: Frank DeSocio, executive director of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA). However, if his role leading this organization is all you know about Frank, you’re missing out on a lot. 

Yes, he has been the chief exec of the BPAA since 2014, but in his 40-plus-year career, he’s also operated bowling centers, was president and CEO of Strike Ten Entertainment, was a Brunswick Bowling sales rep and lots more. DeSocio was among the earliest pioneers of the “family entertainment center” model. He helped develop national bowling promotions with major consumer brands. He was at the helm as BPAA and their members navigated through Covid. Frank is also the 2025 recipient of the Victor Lerner Award, one of bowling's highest industry honors. (Fun fact: Frank oversaw the renovation of the White House bowling lane!)

By the way, you don’t have to be in the bowling industry (or even the amusement biz) to enjoy this one. Key threads that apply broadly run throughout – the value of leadership, the importance of trying new things and the significance of relationships. And speaking of relationships, you’ll pick up on the genuine affection Randy Chilton and Frank DeSocio, good friends for 45 years, have for one another. Sit back and enjoy being in the room with these two.

Talk about a fun interview, and what else would you expect from a conversation with one of the true legends of coin-op game design, Eugene Jarvis!  

Eugene has been involved in a seemingly endless stream of video game hits including classics like Defender, Robotron: 2084 and the Cruis’n series and, after co-founding Raw Thrills, Target: Terror, Fast and Furious Arcade, SuperBikes and Godzilla Kaiju Wars. And let’s not forget the pinball games he contributed to like Firepower, Space Shuttle, High Speed and F-14 Tomcat. 

Eugene took RePlay Podcast host Randy Chilton on a fun and enlightening (and often humorous) ride through his coin-op life from the early days at Atari, then on to Williams and Bally-Midway, and now Raw Thrills, which he co-founded in 2001 with Andy Eloff and Deepak Deo. In the interview, he talks about the challenges of the game business, technological advancements, game design philosophy, his thoughts on leadership and even what he enjoys doing besides making games. If you’re into games, even just a little bit, you’ll really love this one!

No doubt, you already know of Nolan Bushnell. Considered the father of the video game industry, his decades of curiosity, hustle, knowledge, creativity and entrepreneurship not only ushered in the Golden Era of the video game (Computer Space, Pong, Atari) and the family entertainment center model (Chuck E. Cheese), but had a far-reaching impact across many companies and technologies.

RePlay Podcast host Randy Chilton had the honor of chatting with the industry and tech legend, during which we learned he got started on his pretty-much-lifelong path of entrepreneurship (it started young – when he was 8!), AI and the tech’s potential impact on amusement machine and fun center operators, selling Atari, the video game crash of 1983, family life, and more. For example, did you know he led a company that developed an early computerized automobile navigation system (ETAK)? Did you know that Steve Jobs, Nolan’s former Atari employee, offered him a 1/3 share of Apple for $50,000? 

There are many interviews with Nolan and articles about his story, but we learned things we didn’t know in this podcast, and suspect you will too. We greatly appreciated his generosity with his time and will certainly take him up on his offer to chat again someday. With no further ado, enjoy Randy’s chat with Nolan Bushnell.

Glenn Streeter had a passion for antique radios, and got his hobby started in his garage in 1977. He found his way into the coin machine business by hand-building reproduction, nostalgic-styled jukeboxes. From a storefront on Ventura Boulevard in LA’s San Fernando Valley, Glenn’s Antique Apparatus’ reputation for quality and craftsmanship grew as rock stars, other luminaries and regular folks came in to shop. 

In 1992, a unique opportunity fully cemented Glenn’s future in coin-op. Learning that the iconic Rock-Ola jukebox company was for sale, he jumped at the chance. He moved the Chicago-based company out west to Torrance, Calif., propelling it forward while never forgetting its roots. He went so far as to re-create David Rockola’s office in the Torrance, Calif., facility, complete with his desk and key artifacts. 

After nearly three decades at the helm, Glenn sold Rock-Ola to Alexander Walder-Smith in 2019, retiring but remaining in touch with many friends he made along the way. With his decades full of experiences, you can bet he’s got a lot of good stories to share. He hits the tip of the iceberg with our host, Randy Chilton, in this episode, starting with the building of his dream house. Give it a listen!

This RePlay Magazine Podcast episode just might be from the most exotic location we’ll ever have as Randy Chilton visits with Game Exchange of Colorado’s Rich Babich, who was docked in Bora Bora at the time of the chat. Rich and his wife of 50 years, Bev, were celebrating last year’s golden anniversary with a 4-and-a-half-month cruise, seeing the world.

On the business side, Rich has sure seen the world of coin-op change over his almost five decades in the industry, which started on the operations side. Today, his distributorship sells just about as many games to the industry as he does to the home enthusiast. (The retail side of things has been built up by his son JJ.) And did you know that back in the 1980s, Rich was also a manufacturer for a bit? He teamed up with an engineer to develop Hot Seat, which he said was the first dual-axle motion simulator.

There is much to this conversation from his early days in the industry, working with family, the importance for our industry to give back to the children and families who play our games and more. Give it a listen!

If you’ve been in coin-op any appreciable amount of time, you know the name Frank Seninsky (​maybe you know him by his alter ego “Frank the Crank”), and if you’re fortunate, you’ve had the opportunity to work with him and call him a friend.

Since he started in coin-op in 1969 with a $25 investment, placing a Gottlieb North Star pinball machine in his college fraternity house, Frank has been all-in. His Alpha-Omega operations grew from college game rooms to arcades on the Jersey Shore to distribution, consulting and more. Frank is the consummate entrepreneur, industry cheerleader, seminar presenter, prolific writer, association president (AMOA and IALEI), operator, distributor, consultant, idea man, founder of Foundations Entertainment University… the list goes on. (We’ve never seen the Energizer Bunny and Frank in the same room. Coincidence? We think not.)

In short, it was a real treat for RePlay Magazine podcast host Randy Chilton to talk with Frank, who reflects on his years in the industry and more in this not-to-be-missed episode. Dive in!

RePlay Magazine Podcast host Randy Chilton had the great pleasure of sitting down with industry icon and member of the Amusement Industry Hall of Fame Malcolm Steinberg for Episode 7. People in the coin machine world will know Malcolm from his years at the helm of LAI Group, but what many might not know is how he entered the amusement industry. 

Impatient to get started in business, Malcolm left high school early, and when he was 18, a vacation visit with an uncle led him to take 21 pinball machines and start Indoor Amusement Games in Perth, Australia. The year was 1958 and Malcolm was just 18 at the time. From that early operation to distributing, manufacturing and beyond – and from Australia to other parts of the world – his businesses continued to grow and expand. Today, a group of eight companies – including such well-known names as LAI Games, Embed and Timezone – bring in about a billion dollars in annual sales.

 Malcolm’s son Adam leads those companies today, but you can quickly see that Malcolm is well-versed on the details, and at age 86, is still sharp as a tack. Today, he puts his energy into a philanthropic organization called the Malka Foundation that he started to honor his grandmother. It encourages and supports entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership in Western Australia to improve and grow the economy and quality of life for all in the region. 

 Enjoy learning more. We sure did! 

As host publication RePlay Magazine celebrates its 50 years of covering the coin-op industry, it’s only right that Randy Chilton sits down with Publisher Eddie Adlum for a two-part episode.  

The wide-ranging interview begins all the way back in the East Bronx, where Eddie was born and raised. Eddie shares tales from his teenage years, about his band The Castle Kings (which had two singles for Atlantic Records) and his two 1970s horror films, Invasion of the Blood Farmers and Shriek of the Mutilated. He walks listeners through his early days at Cash Box magazine where he worked for 11 years before founding RePlay and where he first met some of the “earliest fellas in the jukebox and games business.”  

Sit across the virtual table from Eddie and hear about his colorful encounters with entertainment legends Elton John, John Lennon, Willie Nelson and Diana Ross, and industry icons Bert Betti, Nolan Bushnell and Al Kress (aka “Kressie”). He’ll tell you about the early days of the “video game” and how that term came to be in the first place. Eddie also talks about RePlay Magazine itself and its relevance today: “You know more after you looked at a RePlay every month than you did before you picked it up.” There’s a whole lot to know about Eddie Adlum, too, so do yourself a favor and watch! 

As host publication RePlay Magazine celebrates its 50 years of covering the coin-op industry, it’s only right that Randy Chilton sits down with Publisher Eddie Adlum for a two-part episode.  

The wide-ranging interview begins all the way back in the East Bronx, where Eddie was born and raised. Eddie shares tales from his teenage years, about his band The Castle Kings (which had two singles for Atlantic Records) and his two 1970s horror films, Invasion of the Blood Farmers and Shriek of the Mutilated. He walks listeners through his early days at Cash Box magazine where he worked for 11 years before founding RePlay and where he first met some of the “earliest fellas in the jukebox and games business.”  

Sit across the virtual table from Eddie and hear about his colorful encounters with entertainment legends Elton John, John Lennon, Willie Nelson and Diana Ross, and industry icons Bert Betti, Nolan Bushnell and Al Kress (aka “Kressie”). He’ll tell you about the early days of the “video game” and how that term came to be in the first place. Eddie also talks about RePlay Magazine itself and its relevance today: “You know more after you looked at a RePlay every month than you did before you picked it up.” There’s a whole lot to know about Eddie Adlum, too, so do yourself a favor and watch!