About Podtacular
Podtacular is a weekly podcast hosted by Foo Mo Jive and JVB that focuses on the Halo video game series developed by Bungie Studios. 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 2000 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, either through an RSS feed, through the iTunes Music Store, or by direct download. Most episodes are over an hour 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 (usually submitted by someone from the Podtacular community) is also supplied with each episode.
The show format
Over the history of the show, the format has changed to suit the discussion, but has mostly revolved around four aspects of the game and community. With the launch of Halo 3, the format is structured as follows:
Week 1 - Map of the month
Discussion about a specific multiplayer map in Halo 3, with tips and strategies broken down by game type, as well as various Forge options and permutations.
Week 2 - Customs and creations
Focused discussion of user-created custom games and map variants using Forge.
Week 3 - Call-ins and Tales from the Foxhole - We take user voicemails and written accounts and share them with the rest of the community.
Week 4 - Community updates
A more informal, free-form discussion of the Podtacular and Halo community, including roundtable discussions, interviews, discussion of other games.
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.
Tournaments
In addition to the production of the weekly podcast, the Podtacular community hosts several Halo 2 Tournaments, organized and run by the site Tournament Director, Dialpex. These are co-ordinated seasonally based on a roster of teams registered with the site, and usually follow Major League Gaming rules. These tournaments are Seasonal and usually last anywhere from 7 to 12 weeks. The system implemented on the site is capable of tracking kills, deaths, KpD ratio and many other aspects and info from the game that give these tournaments a more competitive touch.
The First Podtacular official tournament was held in the Summer of 06 with a great response from within the community. With 12 teams and 36 players, the tournament was a success. The MLG rules implemented on the tournament were the foundation needed in order to create a competitive and fun way to challenge your friends and fellow community members on a nicely played Halo 2 match.
The results of the Summer 2006 Tournament were: 1st Place - Team US, 2nd Place - Team Noob and 3rd Place - The Tri Pod Pros & xX1Shot1KillXx (Tie).
The Second Podtacular official tournament was held in the Fall of 2006. Now, with a much bigger roster holding 24 teams and over 95 players from different communities (such as The Cavegirls, The Winged Warriors, SGB Omega and HaloWiki) the Podtacular fall season had a great result. Due to the new and improved points and game report system, thanks to CapnKrunk, Dialpex was able to host the season smoothly regardless of the amount of data delivered by the tournament players. The tournament was so successful that Podtacular was again featured on Bungie.net for hosting such an event that attracted many new members and people just interested in an occasional competitive gaming sessions.
The results of the Fall 2006 Tournament were: 1st Place - Team Overrated 2nd Place - Team Chicano Clique
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.
- Podtacular: The Adventures of FooMoJive - a role-playing game which will follow the story of Foo Mo Jive as the main character.
- The Podtacular MLG Crew - a group of MLG fans who host Tournaments, meets, and other MLG-related events.
- Podtacular Training Camp - a group of experienced Halo 2 players who give up some of their time to assist less experienced players in their goal of reaching their full potential.
- 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.
References
External links
This site, including all audio and video content © Podtacular.com
