About

Podtacular is a weekly podcast dedicated to the Halo franchise and video game series. The podcast is hosted by Dust Storm, GLewis and Brent Gamer covering topics in the Halo universe and the Podtacular community. Its name is derived from the word podcast, and the famous Halo 2 in-game player award, “Killtacular”.

With the first episode published in June of 2005, Podtacular has since gone on to reach over 5000 listeners and be featured on Bungie.net, as well as win the 2006 Gaming Podcast of the Year Award from PodcastAwards.com.

The Podcast

Podtacular is delivered in MP3 form by RSS feed, the iTunes Music Store and direct download. Most episodes average an hour and a half long and cover a variety of Halo-based material. With almost every episode of the podcast, a series of show notes is released, chronicling what topics were covered or additional material that didn’t make it into the podcast due to time constraints. A unique ‘Podart’ image is also selected each episode.

The Show Format:
Over the history of the show, the format and rotation has changed to suit the evolution of the Halo universe and its content, but has mostly revolved around the multiplayer aspect of the game and the Halo community as a whole. The current rotation is structured as follows:

Week 1 – Halo Wars Campaign
This show features discussion on selected Halo Wars campaign missions. Tips and strategies are discussed on the show and community submissions are read on the show.

Week 2 – Multiplayer Tips for Map of the Month
Discussions focus on a selected multiplayer map from Halo 3/Halo Wars covering tips and strategies for various game types.

Week 3 – Customs and Creations
User created content is highlighted in this show. We discuss the community submissions we receive regarding custom forged maps or custom game types.

Week 4 – Callins and Tales from the Foxhole
Game play stories are featured from the community from submissions and voicemails.

The clans

A major feature of the Podtacular community is the clan system. Shortly after Podtacular was created, members of the community created a clan for online play on Halo 2. The clans come in two classes: Rec and Pro.

Rec Clans consist of basically average gamers who want friends to have fun with and play an occasional gaming session without any worries. Pro Clans consist of more serious players and require a tryout to gain entry and are basically formed by the best players in the community. Pro Clans and the Podtacular All-Stars often compete against outside clans/groups and other communities. One of these communities is the Winged Warriors, and notably, Podtacular All-Stars bested Bungie in one of Bungie’s Humpday Challenges.

Pod TV

A video supplement for Podtacular also comes out occasionally. This video supplement is called “Pod TV” and usually covers
topics discussed in the podcast. These episodes cover subjects such as the Bungie “Humpday” Challenge highlights, completion of the first level of the Halo 2 campaign on the highest difficulty level, and general gameplay tips. “Pod TV” is available on the Google video service, Youtube video service, or in an iPod video format.

Other Community Projects

In addition to the main podcast, several other very popular projects have expanded from the community. These include:

  • Weekly Porridge – A webcomic produced by QualityJeverage, a member of the Podtacular community.
  • Halo News – a Halo-themed news videocast
  • Podtacular Radio – a series of techno mixes produced by a member of the Podtacular community, Painkilla05.
  • Podtacular RPG – a role-playing game created by Twest87x that features members as the characters.
  • Review Frenzy – A team headed by GLewis whose purpose is to create previews and reviews of upcoming games as well as new accessories for the Xbox 360.

External links

Updated July 11th, 2009