Podtacular
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Podtacular is an award-winning Internet Podcast. Hosted by Foo Mo Jive (and weekly co-hosts), the podcast focuses on Halo 2, Halo 3 and the upcoming Halo Wars.
The show recently aired its 92nd episode, and attracts a regular base of over 1000 listeners (according to Feedburner), making it one of the more prominent game-related podcasts available. It's name is derived from the word Podcast, and the famous Halo 2 in-game player award, "Killtacular".
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[edit] Original Format
Podtacular is delivered in MP3 form, either through an RSS feed or direct download. Most episodes are over an hour long, and cover a variety of Halo-based material.
The show was originally broadcast in three segments: News, Tips, and a Community Buzz section covering general fan reactions to various bits of Halo-related news by Bungie/Microsoft. Fans submit information based on the next segment's format. The News podcast covers new information released from Bungie and events such as new tournaments occurring in the Podtacular community. The second show segment, Tips, covers fan-submitted tips for Halo 2 single player or multi-player. The final episode segment is about general community buzz. This segment documents fans' ideas and reactions to Halo 3 and Bungie/Microsoft news, as well as fan submitted reviews for other Xbox games outside the Halo series.
A video supplement for Podtacular also comes out occasionally. This video supplement is called "Pod-TV" and usually covers topics brought about in the podcast. These episodes cover subjects such as the Bungie "Humpday" challenge highlights, 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, or in a iPod video format. In addition, the popular Halo News video show hosted by Chevelle65 and Friends is available either on YouTube, or though iTunes in a iPod video format
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.
[edit] New Show Format
As of December 2006, Podtacular began a new show structure, featuring a rotation of four main show types:
1. MLG Update and King Of The Hill - Discussion about the Major League Gaming community in relation to Halo 2, and a segment named after the popular Halo 2 game type, King Of The Hill, which focuses on the contenders for the top Xbox game on Xbox Live
2. The Halo 3 Show - Retained from the previous show format, this features discussion about the upcoming Halo 3 game.
3. Round Table Discussion - A large group of Halo fans discuss their opinions on aspects of the video gaming world
4. Customs and Call-ins - Also retained from the previous show structure, this features discussion of Custom Halo 2 Multi-player games as well as voice mail (hence the name 'Call-ins') input from show listeners.
The PodTV, Halo News, Podtacular Radio and Weekly Porridge elements of the site are also produced and released on a regular basis.
[edit] History
The podcast began as a short affair, featuring only host Foo Mo Jive. After a few episodes came out and the podcast began to gain popularity, Spelchek joined the cast, and became co-host with Foo Mo Jive. After a long series of episodes, another co-host would join the show, along with Foo Mo and Spelchek. This co-host would usually change per episode. After another series of episodes done in this format, co-host Spelchek left the show. After the departure of the long held co-host, the show format changed once again, featuring two different co-hosts and Foo Mo Jive. One final change eventually came about, featuring JVB and Foo Mo Jive as regular co-hosts, and a guest host who changes per episode. This is the format currently in use by Podtacular.
[edit] 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. 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).
