Podtacular

Podtacular is an unofficial Halo-themed podcast that debuted on July 28, 2005. Podtacular later evolved to include a video podcast known as PodTV, and the Podtacular staff started Seasonal Tournaments that included many Halo and Xbox 360 related prizes. On September 25, 2008 the Audio Podcast returned as the prime media source of Podtacular.

History

Podtacular was created by Mike Funk (foomojive) in June 2005, and the first episode premiered on the Podtacular website on July 28, 2005. Foomojive recruited co-host Cody Bromley (spelchek) for the second episode which aired on August 3, 2005. Spelchek remained as the co-host until January 29, 2006 on episode 47. Jose Betancourt (JVB) made his first appearance on the Podtacular podcast on November 12, 2005, and was later recruited as a co-host on episode 75. JVB was selected as the new co-host because of his previous gaming community backgrounds, such as being on Seatag, Gamertag Radio, Uncle Gamer, and Controller Freaks.^[2] Robert Cortez (CapnKrunk) was also recruited as the website administrator and add call-ins and voice mail to the podcast.

The Audio Podcast for Podtacular was brought back on September 15, 2008 by the community after being discontinued as of April 20, 2008. The podcast resumed its normal schedule with a new staff of "podcasters". Previous hosts Mike Funk and Jose Betancourt have made few appearances since the rebirth of the show. The new hosts for the audio podcast were Dustin Pettigrew (Dust Storm), Gregori Lewis (GLewis) and Cryptoflix of the Podtacular community. CapnKrunk soon left the show and was replaced by Chuck Jacobson (ChuckieJ) for the call-ins segment on the podcast. CapnKrunk later handed the website administration over to Dust Storm moving the site to a reduced format. Cryptoflix soon left and was replaced by Brent Horsley (BrentGamer).

Productions

Audio Podcast

Podtacular v1.0

The podcast was the main feature for Podtacular from July 2005 to April 2008 and was mainly based on discussion regarding Halo 2 (before Halo 3 launched) and then focused heavily on Halo 3. Foomojive was the primary host for all of the audio podcasts before April 2008, often joined by co-hosts such as Spelchek and JVB. Many members from the Podtacular community would appear on the Audio Podcast as guests to contribute to the discussions. Other members from the Xbox and Halo communities also attended as guests on the show, including: Larry Hryb (Major Nelson) from Xbox, Matt Hullum from Rooster Teeth Productions, Alexander Winn and Ryan Luther from The Codex, Damian and Fyb3roptik from This Spartan Life, KP from Bungie, and many more.

The podcast was also featured on the front page of iTunes for a short period of time.

The podcast had a set format of discussion depending on the week of the current month.^[3] Below is the format used by Podtacular as of the final podcast of the Podtacular v1.0 (April 2008):

• Week 1 - Map of the Month
• Week 2 - Customs and Creations
• Week 3 - Call-ins and Tales from the Foxhole
• Week 4 - Community updates

Podtacular v2.0

In October 2008, the Audio Podcast was brought back as Podtacular's main media source. The new audio podcast is commonly referred to as "Podtacular 2.0", due to the dramatic change in direction. The new audio podcast is directed by Dustin Pettigrew (Dust Storm), Gregori Lewis (GLewis), and Brent Horsley (BrentGamer). Pettigrew, Lewis, and Horsley are, in addition to directing, the regular hosts of the podcast. The podcast hosts are frequently joined by co-hosts from the video game industry and the Podtacular community.

Podtacular v2.0 follows a loose schedule of show topics,^[4] although Podtacular claims to have a current rotation of shows,^[5] shown below:

• 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.

Video Podcast

The Podtacular video podcast, otherwise known as Pod TV debuted on May 13, 2006 with its first show on tips for the Halo 2 map Lockout. Pod TV went on to do Halo 2 campaign and skull guides until the release of Halo 3, where similar episodes were released.

After the retirement of the podcast, Pod TV became the primary source for the next three episodes of the podcast. Pod TV is now no longer the primary source of media from Podtacular as of the return of the podcast. As of the return of the audio podcast, Pod TV was used for video "run-throughs" of the Halo 3 campaign mode.

The video podcast is filmed on the Halo 3 engine via the Saved Films feature. The voice audio for the show is separately recorded on Windows and Mac using Skype and Audacity. All podcast episodes are published via their website and their feed can be found via iTunes and Feedburner.

Other

The Podtacular Leadership Conference

During the time while the Podtacular audio podcast was discontinued the community slowly deteriorated, as people who stayed in the community for the show started to leave. In June 2008 Cryptoflix, who along with Freakinabox had been charged with running PodTV, sent out an email to several members in the community who were actively involved in higher places of the community. Eventually this led to the Podtacular Leadership Conference. A monthly meeting of community members in leadership positions

The purpose of the conference is to meet and discuss matters in the community.

Bungie.net

Podtacular has challenged the bungie staff to two "Humpday" challenges.^[6][7] Podtacular's first challenge took place on June, 2006. Podtacular's final statistics were 2-0-1. The second challenge against the Bungie staff was on November, 2007. Podtacular's final statistics were 1-2-0.

Podtacular's Mike Funk (FooMoJive) was interviewed on Bungie.net for their "Community Spotlight" after the first "Humpday" challenge by Podtacular.^[8]

References