WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw Designer Diary #1

When THQ announced earlier this year that WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw for the PlayStation 2 would feature online play, it also confirmed its intention to use the actual voices of almost every wrestler featured in the game. The designer and producer charged with tracking down and sticking a microphone in front of the WWE Superstars was Andy Abramovici, and, as you'll read in his designer diary below, getting the job done was no mean feat.

Raw Talent

By Andy Abramovici
Designer and Producer

Hello, and welcome to this designer diary for THQ's SmackDown! vs. Raw. You probably would not have clicked this link unless you had at least a passing interest in wrestling games or the WWE, and I hope that what follows will sate some of your curiosity. By the way, my name is Andy Abramovici, and I am a designer and producer at THQ. My primary responsibility on WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw was to oversee all aspects of the story mode. What this diary will relay are some of my experiences in one of the most vital and dynamic aspects of the story mode's development: the voice recording of actual WWE Superstar talent.

Usually, these designer diaries tend to deal with topics directly related to the design or implementation of key features. This diary is no exception, as we consider the voice-over elements in WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw a top-level feature. However, this may be a bit different from the typical diary in that it describes a guerilla-type mission, conducted not in the development studio, but rather in the recording studio. No, make that recording studios, as my journey led me to about 20 studios around the US and Canada. The mission: to record more than 40 WWE Superstars in six weeks' time. (FYI, many of these Superstars were asked to record more than 200 lines for us.)

When we began to plan this endeavor, my first thought was, "How hard can it be?" I mean, all we need to do is grab these folks, stick them in a studio, and let them do their thing, right? Well, this cavalier attitude fell by the wayside in a hurry as reality set in. There are all sorts of considerations that we discovered over the course of this project. Here are just a few:

1. Exactly where can we record? My adventure following the Raw and SmackDown! promotions took us from New Hampshire to Florida to Los Angeles to Vancouver. In between, it also took us to smaller cities such as Reading, Pennsylvania; Sudbury, Ontario; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; and so on, and we had to find a suitable studio in each one. As you might imagine, the quality of the studios themselves varied greatly from spot to spot.

2. How can we ensure a consistent level of acoustic quality? Fortunately, we had a thoughtful recording plan to ensure that we had consistent equipment (mics, software, and so on) in each studio to normalize the audio quality as much as possible. Obviously, regardless of how many Superstars we had to record, we would have preferred to have done so in one spot. However, we knew from the get-go that the inherent nature of this project would prohibit that from happening.

3. Superstar availability. It was tough enough to line up travel arrangements for myself (big props to Nicole McKeehan, who arranged THQ-side travel and assisted at the recording shoots) and arrange studio time, but at the end of the day, we had no idea how tough it would be to schedule the talent and coordinate the recording sessions around their time. See, until you try to book 40-plus WWE Superstars, you really have no idea of just how busy these guys are. I mean, they are on the road several days a week taping Raw and SmackDown1, performing at "house shows" (the two to three nontelevised shows each brand puts on each week), and taping bimonthly pay-per-views. On top of that, the Superstars themselves are so popular that any spare time they have is often devoted to personal appearances, WWE-sponsored appearances, film shoots, and, in some cases, book tours. Yes, we quickly found out that ensuring time, even a few hours, from each of our Superstars was going to be a significant undertaking.

Life on the Road

Once I hit the road, it didn't take me long to understand the ramifications of the typical Superstar's brutal travel schedule. For the most part, these folks are not traveling first class. They often drive several hundred miles from city to city (and again, we're talking three or four cities in a week at times), barnstorming their way from arena to arena. Let me tell you, it's not easy. Different town every night, different hotel room, unfamiliar surroundings, constantly renting and returning cars, living out of suitcases, and so on. No fun.

However, living this grueling schedule for six weeks was really where I really gained a lot of respect for these guys. I was dead tired after a week, and I was not getting thrown around in the ring every night. There are many opinions regarding the legitimacy of professional wrestling, but all you need to see is one match to understand that these human beings are getting banged up and beat up every time they step into the ring. Case in point, I had the privilege of recording WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the day after he defeated Eddie Guerrero for the title. Let me tell you something: JBL could barely walk. He was a hurtin' unit. Still, the pained champ plopped himself down in the chair and recorded his 200-plus lines (plus retakes, as dictated by yours truly) like a pro. After the session, as JBL hobbled toward his waiting limo, I asked him if he had tonight (a Monday house show) off. "Nope," said the champ, "I got Eddie again tonight." Ouch. Now, I'm pretty down with the "Entertainment" side of the WWE, but this man was hurtin' for certain. "How do you do it?" I asked. His response was basically that once you hit the ring and the adrenaline starts flowing, you can put the pain on the back burner. Folks, these guys and gals are tougher than a $5.00 steak.

At the end of the day, though, I must admit that it was a memorable experience living like a WWE Superstar for six weeks--one I'll not soon forget. Sure, I wouldn't want to live my life hopping on planes, trains, and automobiles, spending all my nights in hotels. But I must say that in retrospect it was quite an experience. It was like nothing else I've ever done in 10 years in the games business, and I found it an interesting slice of life.

Personal Safety

OK, I admit that before I set out to record the Superstars, I had some concerns about my own personal safety. I mean, most of these guys are ripped monsters who beat people senseless for a living. Even the Divas could probably pick me up and break me in two (and don't think I didn't try to think up ways for that particular scenario to come true). How would they be taking direction from a stranger the studio? Are these guys really egomaniacal prima donnas? Can they all even read their scripts? Suffice it to say that we dove in headfirst but prepared ourselves for the worst. This was particularly true for those Superstars (and there were a few) who we were warned might have questionable attitudes and patience.

You know what? To a man (and Diva), these were some of the most down-to-earth people you ever could meet. While I can't divulge too much info about particular superstars and their off-camera personas, suffice it to say that even the most vile and evil WWE villains were an absolute pleasure to work with in the studio. Although it may not always seem this way on TV, these folks are professionals who take their jobs very seriously. Their positive attitude, sense of humor, and enthusiasm made our job that much easier and rewarding.

Highlight Reel

Here are some of my favorite Superstar moments from the sessions:

1. Chris Jericho and John Cena. No surprise, but both these guys were awesome in the studio. Jericho is of course a rock star as well as a WWE Superstar, and he's extremely comfortable on the mic. (He also left us prime tickets for the show that night--thanks, Y2J!) Cena was a natural, and he was great to work with because he loves video games (including SmackDown!).



2. In one of our studios, we had a spread of assorted low-fat wraps, fresh fruit, fruit shakes, stamina bars, chips (baked, not fried), diet cola, and a veggie tray--basically everything but raw meat and internal organs. Batista walks in. I say, "Hey, Batista. While we review your lines again, feel free to help yourself to anything and everything." Batista glances at the spread. "Sorry, I can't eat any of that," he replies. Folks, I am a picky eater, but we had something for everybody on those trays. Still, looking at Batista, I felt like I could probably assume that he is pretty down with his dietary requirements, and that whatever he could in fact eat, it was probably working. I decided to drop the subject. More food for me!

3. On the flip side of that, we had RVD bragging good-naturedly about the fact that he can eat just about anything and stay in shape while other guys would rather starve than touch certain foods. (He showed up at the session with a double order of biscuits and gravy.)

4. When Chris Benoit used to wrestle in Japan, he was given the name "Wild Pegasus." I had been dying to ask him why that name was given to him. I thought the wings of the Pegasus might have been a metaphor for the killer mullet he wore back then. So as we rode to the studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, I asked him why they called him that (and because I like my arms in their sockets where they belong, I didn't actually make any mention of a mullet). Benoit chuckled and told me he didn't know. I asked him why he never asked, since if somebody called me a Pegasus I'd likely want to know why. He simply stated that some questions seemed better off not asking. For reasons I cannot fully understand myself, I found this conversation fascinating.

5. All the Divas. We recorded Trish Stratus, Stacey Keibler, Torrie Wilson, and Sable. Do I really need to explain why these would be counted as highlights?

6. Randy Orton recorded with us in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Legend Killer was very cool, but he was also pretty beat, as he'd had a tough match the night before. Although the studio was first rate, the booth apparently got pretty hot. After about 30 minutes, he asked if he could take his shirt off in the booth. Of course we said that was fine with us. (Better him than me, believe me.) Along with the normal session notes I made that day, I'm sure I noted somewhere to book Trish, Torrie, and Victoria for Winnipeg next year.

7. Vince McMahon. We recorded him at the WWE studios in Stamford, Connecticut. (Which, by the way are a world-class TV recording/editing/posting facility. I had no idea they were that stacked.) Mr. McMahon was a trip. He was scheduled for one hour, and it was like pulling teeth to get him booked due to his insane schedule. He arrived late, but once he got in the chair there was no stopping him. He was like a runaway train. I was able to pull on the reins a few times, but I had to pick my spots. One such spot was I asked him for a retake on the "You're fired" line. His first couple of takes were somewhat subdued, and if you watch WWE programming, you know exactly what I was looking for from that line. And yes, we got it.

8. Meeting Stephanie McMahon was a little surreal. While she did not appear in the game this year, I ran into her in the parking lot at the WWE studios. As we were introduced, I presented myself as a rep from THQ. She was very cordial, and simply said, "Hi. Nice to meet you. Steph." As if the most dominant female in the WWE needs to introduce herself.



9. Triple H and Ric Flair. As fate would have it, Triple H was scheduled to record in one of our more rural settings. In fact, the studio was actually a renovated barn in the middle of a pretty desolate area. When his limo pulled up, he apparently called the WWE to make sure that he was in the right place and would actually make it back to the arena alive. In any case, the studio was up to snuff and Triple H did a great job. He was an exception, however, in the sense that he was going to wait around for the next guy--Ric Flair--to finish. Well, Ric's limo arrived late--so late, in fact, that we had to cancel his session that day. Triple H ended up hanging out in that barn with us for two hours after his session. He brought in and played the new Motorhead CD, helped us by calling Flair a few times, made an impromptu appearance for a few local kids who were going to the show that night, and basically shot the breeze. As down-to-earth outside the ring as he is off-the-charts in it. So, back to Flair: Why was he late? His limo driver got extremely lost, and although I was personally unhappy that we had to scrap Flair that day due to time concerns, it was almost worth it to see The Nature Boy do what I can only describe as "cut a promo" on the driver once they finally arrived. Flair was not happy. The Dirtiest Player in the Game was gracious with us, but it was a bad, bad day to be a limo driver.

10. The Undertaker. My personal favorite moment of the six weeks was between takes. The Deadman ad-libbed a dead-on impersonation of a certain legendary macho wrestler, complete with some "Elizabeth scolding" and some "Ooooh Yeah-ing." We were cracking up all the way. Absolutely classic.

Finishing Moves

Wow. This barely scratches the surface of the voice recording we did this year. Our writers and producers spent a heck of lot of time preparing for the recording stage, because we knew we'd have just one crack at each of the 40-plus Superstars we recorded. It's amazing how much prep you need to do for a project of this magnitude. Yet even though it paid off, you will always find the bumps in the road. The trick is to learn from the hiccups, whether they're mistakes, unforeseen events, or acts of nature, and apply those lessons to the next go-around. Even the best-laid plans tend to not follow through 100 percent, so you'd better be prepared.

Speaking of preparations, none of this could have happened without the full cooperation of people like Michael Archer and Lynn Brent at the WWE offices in Stamford. These folks look after WWE licensing and talent relations and were instrumental in making sure that all our planning was carried through on the WWE side. They helped us coordinate all the talent, and without their dedication and professionalism, this already daunting task could have easily been nearly impossible.

On a personal note, I look forward to another go-around next year. Looking after SmackDown! vs. Raw's story mode has been extremely fulfilling from a creative standpoint. The last piece of the puzzle, voice recording, was at the same time draining and elating. Seeing the words come to life was unquestionably fulfilling, and my thanks go out to the WWE and all the WWE Superstars for their time and effort. Their voices will undoubtedly take SmackDown! vs. Raw to the next level.

Speaking for the WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw team, I can say that we are all very excited about the game this year. It plays better than ever, it boasts an awesome roster of superstars and legends, a killer soundtrack, and the best story mode yet, complete with branching career paths. As a matter of fact, I just heard that Sony of America approved us today, on our first time through! For those of you who do not work in the industry, I cannot relay to you how awesome it is to get approval from Sony, especially on the first try (that is, we were not kicked out for bugs, platform violations, or quality issues). This is the final hurdle you need to jump to publish for the PS2, and once approval is given, you can finally exhale, cry, and begin to shake. It speaks volumes about our THQ team, THQ QA, and Yukes (our developer) that we passed on the first submission. Hopefully, that is a sign that WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw will perform great this year and that you'll have as great a time playing it as we did making it.