During its initial operation, the podcast had the privilege of interviewing a range of acclaimed people such as Gabe Newell, Ellen McLain and Marc Laidlaw. Additionally they also conducted interviews with various community projects such as the Black Mesa Modification team and even ourselves (which we were completely flattered about!).

Unlike some conventional podcasts, Steamcast gave members of the community the opportunity to send their own questions and concerns to interviewees directly, which resulted in what they call ‘community-produced interviews‘. The compelling and innovative nature of these interviews gave the podcast a rise to fame, but most importantly, it gave people like ourselves – everyday gamers – the opportunity to voice our opinions and concerns with the wider community.

Sadly, the podcast ended on May 8th 2012 due to ‘internal troubles’, which was announced during Episode 99, dubbed ‘The End‘. Despite the title and claims by the hosts during the final episode, there was always a slight sense that it may return sometime in the near future however no date or relative time was given.

The subsequent closing of Podcast17 – A weekly Podcast dedicated solely to the Half-Life community, meant that the Valve community was pretty much podcast-less and a sense of disconnection became apparent due to the loss.

During August this year the podcast started to show some light again and on the 10th of September, Episode 100 titled ‘Rise and Shine‘ was released along with a stunning new website, which was hand crafted by the Podcast’s creator and co-host, Flamov.

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to preview the new site before it was publicly launched (and before LambdaGeneration was re-launched) and I was totally blown away. I have to give it to Flamov, it’s the most innovational Podcast websites that I have come across. The website has essentially become the podcast itself, the controls and player are embeded right into the design, enabling users to seamlessly engage with this podcast in a direct but spontaneous manner.

The website also comes complete with all of the previous episodes, including all of the specials and ‘snacks’ and all of the previous hosts: Sam (aka Flamov), Brad (aka Mimaz) and Saurabh (aka Spitfire).

Steamcast has always had a massive impact upon the community. I’ve always had a strong belief that the community is fuelled by its own promotion. The involvement, encouragement and progression that Steamcast has had on the community has been enormous. The closing of the podcast in 2012 was a very sad day for both avid-listers of the show and the entire community, the current re-birth can only be a promising continuation of where they left off.

I’d invite you all to check out the new Steamcast over at www.thesteamcast.com or on RSS or iTunes.
If you’re not familiar with the podcast already, its definitely worth a listen!

Article Sources

Thanks to the Podcasts creator, Flamov for clarifying some factual info.