For some reason, over the past few months, we have received quite a number of spikes in traffic here at Podtacular.  We seem to be hitting marks that we didn’t think we were trying to hit.  First it was Frankie replying to our E3 show, then it was Dust Storm being on The Running Riot, then there was the Podcast of All Halo Podcasts, etc.  Well, prepare to get even more attention, my dear community.  Your host, Dust Storm, has been given the opportunity of a lifetime: a spot on the Waypoint Community panel at Halo Fest.  You heard right, because I had to check twice if I heard right as well (yes, I was speaking in 3rd person before).  I have been presented with a media badge for Halo Fest and will probably get to meet some cool people and get come awesome interviews, but more importantly, I will be sitting in front of thousands of Halo fanatics and more if IGN streams the panel.  So if you are there, please let me know, cause there will be a podcast recorded there.  Also, any burning questions you’ve wanted to ask Frankie, send them in.

This week’s Halo Bulletin on Waypoint focuses on the new sounds we will see in Halo Anniversary.  While it’s not a complete library of sounds, it does show the difference between the two and the nice sounding upgrades they all got.  You can watch the videos on today’s Halo Bulletin.  My personal favorite is the Rocket Launcher (or noob tube for the haters).

Kotaku showed a video that I’d love to think is an awesome alternate ending to the latest Harry Potter film (yes, it could be considered an HP spoiler). I laughed. Go and check it out!(GrimBrother One 21:24:04 UTC)

Tex found a pretty cool Tumblr site – unfortunately, right before she posted it, it went on hiatus for a few days, but check out the existing content, and keep an eye on it! (And while you’re waiting, if you haven’t given us feedback on our new shirt concept… please do!)(Louis Wu 18:21:08 UTC)

ncsuDuncan stopped in with word of some recent updates on his site – mostly Destiny related, but also including photos of his Swag Bag contents (which include, unsurprisingly, Halo items). Go check it all out! (Louis Wu 18:20:27 UTC)

ElzarTheBam pointed out another OXM UK article – it seems they’re meting out tidbits from their print issue 76, and the latest one has a quote from Phil Spencer about how important Halo is to Microsoft. Yeah, cause you didn’t know that. (Louis Wu 18:18:21 UTC)

We’ve sold shirts before – we sold a Bungie.org shirt in 2001, and an HBO shirt in 2006. Neither of these are available any more, however… and until recently, we had no real intention of changing that fact. A little while ago, though, kanbo contacted us and asked if we’d be willing to sell another one – if he did most of the work. That’s the kind of offer we like… so we contacted Leviathan to see if he’d be interested in coming up with a design we could use. Levi came through – in spades. kanbo’s printer is willing to print the shirt in any color variants we’d like (there’s a small charge for ink changes, but as long as the order number is high enough, this won’t matter) – but we need to decide about sleeve options. Here’s where you come in! Swing by our Shirt Poll page, and check off the color variants you’d consider purchasing. (This isn’t a commitment to buy; we’re not asking you for any money up front, or even a promise from you that there’ll be money later. We’re trying to get a sense for what sort of demand there’d actually be.) While you’re there, pick your favorite sleeve configuration. We’ll let this poll run for a while, and then make some decisions based on the data we collect. Thanks for your help!(Louis Wu 14:44:53 UTC)

We’ve mentioned Project Aftershock a few times – it’s a Crysis Halo mod – today, =SW=warlord is back with a new video update showing off a bunch of cool changes – go watch!(Louis Wu 14:42:51 UTC)

Isaac Hannaford is back to posting Reach concept art on his blog – check out some awesome shots of Boneyard! Thanks, Black Six.(Louis Wu 14:04:29 UTC)

Nicolas Bouvier is an artist currently working on Halo 4 for 343 Industries. He also created the cover art for Halo: Cryptum. Kotaku has a nice little retrospective of some of his work (including a Halo sketch I’ve never seen before). Thanks to PooBone, over at NeoGAF, for the heads-up.(Louis Wu 14:02:22 UTC)

Yesterday, Halo Waypoint gave away 4 3-day PAX badges on Twitter (folks just had to tweet back a pic of themselves holding a sign reading “I want to go to Halo Fest!”, winners chosen at random). They’re doing it again today (and tomorrow, and Friday). Keep an eye on their feed for full details! (Louis Wu 14:01:35 UTC)

Elzarthebam noticed a short article at Eurogamer that hints at the Kinect features that will be available in Halo: Anniversary. Key points: they’re optional, they’re cool, they’ll enhance your overall experience but will not affect your core game experience. (Louis Wu 13:59:54 UTC)

Stewie2552 and the Funny Halo 3 Productions crew put together 10 Years of Halo in 10 Minutes – a tribute to Bungie’s games, shown in the order they were made and compiled from cutscene footage with a soundtrack that’s made from various Halo pieces (some really nice combining here). Overall, a great look back at the series! (Louis Wu 13:58:49 UTC)

FyreWulff collected all the posts Jeremiah made in the Bungie.net Optimatch forum concerning changes to the Matchmaking playlists – and now that the Optimatch forum is offline, he’s made the collection publicly available. Nice!(Louis Wu 13:57:37 UTC)

OXM UK speculates about Cortana, and her importance in Halo 4, in a recent article on their website. Thanks, INSANEdrive. (Louis Wu 13:56:45 UTC)

If you visit Bungie.net, you’ll notice a new layout, for the first time in a month. And new news, even – a reminder that the upcoming ViDoc will hit the interwebz on Thursday, and a small note about the facelift itself. Go explore! (I like the new Halo Universe page.)(Louis Wu 22:30:30 UTC)

It’s big, it’s beautiful, and it needs caressing.