Crutchboy, Gritskrieg, Hailey Bright, Rob Welkner & Timothy Danger - On the set of Coin-Op TV Live

This past Thursday, the BG Reckon Crew hopped on a plane and visited the City of Angels out in California and we were fortunate enough to visit the studios of TheStream.tv and appear on Coin-Op TV for their first show of 2010. The trip had three purposes, the first being to present the lovely Hailey Bright with her title of 2009′s Gamette of the Year and the second was to appear on the show while doing so. The third was a little less business oriented and led to some bar hopping in Santa Monica with Rob Welkner and Hailey, the hosts of Coin-Op TV.

We presented Hailey with the trophy on Coin-Op’s live broadcast, their 326th episode, and their first show of the year after the holiday break. Rob and Hailey were gracious hosts and put up with the Reckon Crew’s antics during the broadcast while I fielded questions about the site and our plans for 2010. There was, of course, alcohol involved where the Crew was concerned but Rob was kind enough to make sure I didn’t look like a complete fool on the air.

Hailey Bright receives BusyGamer's Gamette of the Year Award

We were also pleased to make the acquaintance of Brian Gramo, the founder of TheStream.tv and producer for the Coin-Op TV show and we want to thank the whole crew of Coin-Op for having us on the show and putting up with the pre-show heckling of Crutchboy and Timothy Danger while Rob prepped me to be on the air.

We had to do some touristy things while we were out west and managed to spend some time on Hollywood Boulevard on Friday even though the weather was a bit on the horrid side. But the sun did come out on Saturday and managed to make us forget about how cold and wet it had been while we took a second trip to Hollywood to partake in some of the sites that had been a bit less inviting while the sun was behind the clouds.

And while we were out and about, we managed to catch a movie at the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and visit the tech savvy uWink Bistro in the Hollywood and Highland Center where we played games and made fun of one another’s scores before calling it a night. The rest of our time was spent taking in the lights of the Boulevard and snapping a pic or two of the Stars on the Walk of Fame. And dodging street performers dressed like Chucky from Child’s Play…

So if you missed the show on Thursday, you can catch it in its entirety here, complete with the interview I did during the show. I think I rocked but opinions may vary. And make sure you bookmark the Coin-Op TV site and TheStream.TV so you can always go back and check out future shows that don’t feature us. I know, disappointing, but you’ll survive, I’m sure.

So thanks again to Rob, Hailey, and Brian. We had a blast. Maybe one day we’ll see you guys out here in Texas…

Gritskrieg – End of Line

Rob Welkner & Hailey Bright - Hosts of Coin-Op Tv

Every Thursday night, we here in the Busygamer world turn off our Xboxes and fire up the desktops. Ironically, it’s not to hop onto a new MMO, but to check out what is happening in the world of gamer news and entertainment from our friends in Coin-Op TV land.

If you haven’t heard of this, let’s take the time to catch you up to speed. Coin-Op TV Live is an interactive live web TV show that features Hosts Rob Welkner, Busy Gamette Hailey Bright, TheStream.TV genius Brian Gramo, cool guests, and you.

Yeah you. Sitting there on your computer. The neatest feature of Coin-Op TV is that you have the option to log into the chatrooms and IM services and talk with other watchers and the hosts themselves.

Feel a little left out? Not to worry, you can catch archived shows on www.thestream.tv and if you even want to get more old school, you can now get Coin-Op TV’s “Best of” DVD’s. Volume 2 just hit this month. In honor of this, Coin-Op’s very own host/producer Rob Welkner took some time out to answer a few questions with us…

BG: How did the show start?
Rob:COIN-OP TV started in the summer of 2004. I was supposed to shoot a feature film and purchased camera equipment (Panasonic dvx100) and editing gear (Mac G5) to use for the movie. Unfortunately the money fell through and the people I was working with were complete flakes. I didn’t know what to do with all the gear I had but wanted to make something cheap that many people could see right away. I was a fan of shows on G4tv and the video game industry and had been going to E3 for a couple of years. It only seemed natural to start up a show about video games and talk about arcade and retro games. Back then everyone was still on dial-up modems and this was before the youtube boom. I did casting for a host and booked a trip to California Extreme in Aug 2004 where I met Walter Day and a ton of other good people willing to speak to me on camera.

BG: Has the show always been on thestream.tv?
Rob:COIN-OP TV existed years before TheStream.TV network was launched by its founder Brian Gramo. Brian and I actually met when I hired him to help me on a location shoot for the show. At this point I had posted over 40 episodes to the internet as a video podcast show. Brian saw there was a fan-base to what I was doing, so when he launched his own live/interactive network he invited me to participate. When COIN-OP TV LIVE started as a weekly show – it was the first time I was in front of the camera on a regular basis. TheStream.TV launched with a handful of shows and my show is the second longest running show on the network.

COIN-OP TV DVD Vol. 2

BG: How has the show changed since its creation?
Rob:So much has changed since I started. My original business cards read ‘web-tv show tribute to retro and arcade gaming’. In the beginning I was all about arcade, pinball and old school gaming related things. Who had the highest score in Ms. Pac-Man? Who could get to the kill screen in Donkey Kong? Who designed the Star Wars arcade game? These were people I wanted to meet and interview. As exciting as I found these people out to be – I started to notice that the general public wasn’t as interested as I was. So I had to find ways to add new dimensions to the show and open up the door a little wider. I started doing interviews at the ‘I am 8-bit’ art shows (a tribute show by artists to retro gaming) we started going to the Anime Expo and other shows looking for fun and interesting people to interview. I still have a great love for pinball and arcade and will continue to interview or showcase that sort of thing with COIN-OP TV but it has become a broader show over the years. Also the biggest difference is that the show is live and interactive running about 45 minutes rather then short isolated edited video podcast clips. We describe COIN-OP TV LIVE as an Internet TV show on the video game industry, people and events.
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