SVR '08 Press Conference Report.

[#HEEL Dark Lord]

October 29, 2007 - Elijah Burke just pwned Bryan Williams at WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008. That might not sound super-impressive, but keep in mind that Burke is a WWE Superstar who's on the road nonstop, Bryan is the creative manager behind gameplay in SVR '08, and somehow the leader of the ECW New Breed just beat the guy behind the very game they were playing.

Three times in a row.

Bryan's choke job was just one of many sights to be seen at THQ's WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008 review event in Washington D.C. this past weekend. The event -- which included the release of reviewable copies of the game (look for ours Thursday), a chance to face off against Burke and Melina and a trip to Cyber Sunday -- served as a last blast of SVR '08 information from Bryan, Senior Creative Manager Cory Ledesma and the WWE duo.

What'd everyone have to say? Well, funny you should ask …





Elijah Burke

Elijah: You guys do our screenshots and all that stuff, right?

IGN: That's right -- the character countdown every day.

Elijah: That's good stuff, man.

IGN: So, right off the bat --

Elijah: Yeah, right off the bat, you put some good stuff up there about me?

IGN: I did my best.

Elijah: Okay, man.

IGN: I work with what I'm given.

Elijah: As soon as I get back to the hotel, I'm checking.

IGN: Go 'head. You went up a long time ago. You were one of the ones the fans really wanted to see. Did you see our 'Mania coverage, dude? We had a whole article about how you took over the entire WWE Superstar Challenge.

Elijah: [laughing] Good stuff.

IGN: The immortal Elijah Burke.

Elijah: That's what I'm talking about. You couldn't have been more right. So go ahead, man.

IGN: So, right off the bat --

Elijah: Right off the bat.

IGN: Elijah Burke in the videogame -- great videogame character or the greatest videogame character?

Elijah: Wowwwww. Now, being a fan, being a fan of wrestling, being a fan of SmackDown! vs. Raw, obviously I can't say the greatest. I would love to put myself over like that, but I can't. I mean, do you know how much of a fan I am to see Dusty Rhodes on the game? To see Hulk Hogan, nWo version -- that's when I became a Hogan fan, when he went nWo. [GREG NOTE: Calm down, fanboy. He's talking about previous versions of the game. The Dream and Hulkster aren't in SVR '08] So to see those legends on the game, there's no way I can consider myself the greatest. I got a couple more years to go before I can consider myself the greatest character on the game.




IGN: Is that why you had to use Triple H to beat Bryan? I'm scouting you, man. I'm watching you.

Elijah: Actually, I didn't use Triple H to beat Bryan. You have to remember, first I used myself to beat Bryan. I was learning the gameplay before he came back -- by the way, be sure to put that on your site: Elijah Burke defeats THQ developer for SmackDown! vs. Raw three times using himself, Undertaker and Triple H.

IGN: That's impressive. The guy lives the game and you just walk in and beat him.

Elijah: Lives the game! Made it! Created me!

IGN: Could this be your new career? Go around hustling people at SmackDown! vs. Raw?

Elijah: I don't know if you'd call it hustling. You got to remember I came here cold just like I did at SmackDown! vs. Raw 2007 THQ Superstar Challenge. My first time playing the game, show me the controller, and pretty much, I took it from there.




IGN: You've been playing wrestling games a long time though, right?

Elijah: I've been playing wrestling games, yeah, but you've got to remember: SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008 ECW invasion is totally, totally, totally different gameplay. Everything is different about it. You have to hold two buttons to run. Totally different, but you know, I did the Dew.

IGN: As a fan, how does this compare as far as the control schemes we've seen in the past?

Elijah: I love the controls. Obviously, sometimes change can be a little difficult, but once you get it down, I actually like the controls. Once you get used to them, there's still a lot more I have to learn about it, but what I know right now -- I can take just a little bit of knowledge, man, and apply it and manipulate my way to a victory and that's what I did.




IGN: When it ships, what are you going to buy? What version?

Elijah: Oh, 360 version.

IGN: Why?

Elijah: Absolutely the best. I've already studied all of them, man. None compare to the 360 version, and that's just me. The graphics are much smoother, much realer and the movement, the gameplay, the control -- I love it. Gosh, when you talk about being a fan of wrestling games, man, I think all the way back to Pro Wrestling on Nintendo. You know what I'm saying? With the Amazon and Ken Star. My favorite used to be the Masked … uh … what do they call him? The Masked Superstar or something. He used to do the flying burrito all the time. That's all I used, man. Then I remember NWA Pro Wrestling and Wrestlemania for Nintendo. This stuff is just like -- talk about futuristic.

IGN: So, you won the Superstar Challenge, you're at the top of your game right now both in the ring and in the videogame --

Elijah: I appreciate that.

IGN: How are you going to handle your feud with Shelton Benjamin, the previous Superstar Challenge Champion? Obviously you can't just go on WWE SmackDown and kick the crap out of him for the heck of it.

Elijah: Wow, where is this coming from? How do you all know about this Shelton Benjamin stuff?



IGN: This is like Ali/Frazier. He won like eight years in a row.

[laughter all around]

IGN: Have you had the chance to kick that ass outside of the Superstar Challenge?

Elijah: Me and Shelton, we've had a couple of run-ins -- mainly at Wrestlemania 23. He heard the news, came to congratulate me and told me his thoughts about me winning. Honestly, Shelton Benjamin is still a champ 'cause he retired undefeated, but he's not the champ. So what I'll do is -- rightfully so -- I'll prove myself again this year, maybe call him out next year, and we'll do the big showdown at Wrestlemania 25.

IGN: This is like the Ali and the Frazier -- which one is the real champ? Are you going to try and pull to get him back into the Superstar Challenge?

Elijah: Oh, I'll get him back because his ego is too big. I won't have to do much. All it's going to take is for you guys to put it on your website.

[laughter all around]

[#HEEL Dark Lord]

IGN: You're not on the card tonight -- Cyber Sunday -- how's that make you feel?

Elijah: How does that make you feel?

IGN: Horrible. They save you for the big shows, right?

Elijah: Exactly.

IGN: The way I figure, they didn't put you on the card or on the voting thing because you would've just crashed the site. Everyone would've showed up, clicked on it and that would've been the end of it.

Elijah: There you go.

IGN: You would've been elected for guest referee even though you weren't even part of the poll. You would've literally broken the Internet.




Elijah: Okay. You want me to be Elijah Burke the wrestler here, but I'm going to keep it real with you. That's exactly why. I mean, right now, we're going in a certain direction, okay? And you put Burke in there, and it might mess up the plan.

IGN: I understand.

Elijah: You understand what I'm saying? That's all I can tell you on that, but I'll be watching and I'll definitely be anxiously waiting to see who comes out on top.

IGN: Again about your feelings as we get in touch with the real Elijah Burke, in SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008, the Xbox 360 version the next-gen/current-gen however you want to put it versions -- in the season mode, players can't play as you because ECW invades mid-season.

Elijah: Oh. Wowwwww.

IGN: How does that make you feel?

Elijah: I didn't know that.

IGN: Yeah?

Elijah: I think it's cool.

IGN: Yeah?

Elijah: I actually think that's cool because that makes me that much more -- not just me myself but all of us in ECW -- makes us that much more important. You know? I think that's really cool. Although I would love for us to be in the season mode so I could go on to -- y'know -- maybe some fan might want to use me and beat reality to the punch by taking me to the ECW Championship or whatnot. It's still pretty cool.




IGN: Cool. As far as your wrestling career goes, who is it you most want to wrestle on the entire WWE roster, and if you have wrestled them, who is it and why was it such an amazing experience?

Elijah: Wow. That's a good question. There's only two people right now that -- I mean there's a lot that I would love to wrestle. All of the guys. Obviously the Undertaker, Hunter, Shawn Michaels, all of those guys, but the two people that I would love to wrestle: one would be the Dream if I could draw him out of retirement again. I don't care if it's on a charity show that does it -- I would love to get in there and take a couple of his Bionic Elbows. And the other would obviously be Ric Flair. I would love to get a match out of him. Obviously, Ric is a legend. There's been rumors all over about him retiring, and I would love to get in there before that happens.

IGN: Is there anybody you feel like you really click with on the ECW roster that you just love putting shows out there with? I mean, it's got to be nice with CM Punk as the champ. "We click great; give me a title shot."

Elijah: Well, that's the truth. Me and CM Punk, when we get in there, I think we have something special together, you know? We're always able to go out there and just feel each other out and just go, man. As much as I hate to admit it, I actually do like going out there with him and working with him. He's a good opponent. I think we really push each other to the limit.

IGN: Alright, final question. I need Elijah Burke the wrestler back with me here. Can you channel him? Are we there?

Elijah: That's the funny part, Elijah Burke the wrestler and Elijah Burke the person are the same.

IGN: Oh whatever! He would've punked CM Punk! He wouldn't be putting him over! "Oh, he's such a great opponent."

Elijah: I didn't put him over! I never said he was great! I told you we bring out the best in each other.

IGN: Alright. Fine. Here's my question: today, you've talked a lot about how you love ECW, you're new breed, you're happy to be there. I mean, you look back at the history of ECW you've got your Ravens, your Tommy Dreamers, Foley -- when are you going to admit that you'll never be that good and hang it up?

Elijah: When will I admit I'll never be that good?

IGN: Yeah.

Elijah: The funny part is that Elijah Burke is destined to be as great -- if not better -- than all those guys that you just mentioned because I'm the future, and the future is now. I'm the future and I'm the present. Vince McMahon never came out there and said Dreamer, Sabu, Rob Van Dam or anybody he wanted them to lead his new vision. He sent me out there to do it because I am that good. I'm the experience. You need me. They need me.

IGN: Okay. Well put. Thank you, sir.

Elijah: Thank you.



Cory Ledesma -- THQ Senior Creative Manager

IGN: Cory, we're almost there. How do you feel about the game?

Cory: We're really excited about the game and really I couldn't be more happier with gameplay. Really, I think it's the most fun game to play in the series just because I think Superstar Fighting Styles are really solid. I think it's just really cool the way fans are going to be able to play the game -- and it's not just playing SmackDown; it's playing the different fighting styles and the different strategies they offer. We have this diehard following of fans -- everyone knows this -- and they are masters at the game. They're really good at it. They know all the little nuances, which moves are the strongest. This is just going to open that up because there's eight fighting styles, eight ways to play. They're going to be able to try and figure out which fighting style is strongest, which ones give me the best advantage going into this match. So, that's the stuff I get really excited about. I think the fans will get really excited about and really -- for us -- it starts with gameplay always. That's our first focus each year, and we want to offer modes and ways to prolong your experience and to improve our Create-a-Superstar -- but really, gameplay is where it's at.






IGN: Was there an apprehension to go Fighting Styles? I mean, for years you've just been able to steal finishers no matter who you are. Were you worried about backlash or anything like that?

Cory: Not really. Of course those thoughts are always in our head -- especially during our brainstorm process when we're thinking about how's this feature going to work -- we're a little worried if people are going to complain that they can't do the possum pin and what's going to happen, but really we get so excited about the feature and we know it's really strong that those worries go out the window. We just wanted to make sure that each Fighting Style is really different from the other ones. They have their strengths and weaknesses, but really, when we're thinking about this feature and why we want to add it is really to differentiate the Superstars. When we sit around and play the game, we know that playing Rey Mysterio/Undertaker is kind of similar. It's the same experience. Maybe they have different moves, but their controls are the same and their abilities are the same. And we didn't think that was right. We thought it was right if Rey Mysterio can bounce off the ropes real quick and do an aerial attack or he has --

IGN: His roll. His evasive roll.

Cory: His evasive roll. Exactly. We were really excited about that because it differentiates the guys and we think that's most important. We think that when you play with Undertaker, you're not just playing with his move set, but you're playing with what it's like to play as him or maybe his abilities that you would find in his match. That's where the whole kind of brainchild came about. We want to differentiate these guys. When I'm playing with Undertaker, it feels like I'm playing with him. That was the big reason behind it.




IGN: There are a lot of new faces on the roster. Who's your favorite new guy this year and why?

Cory: I'm definitely very excited about ECW's addition because I like CM Punk and Elijah Burke both very well. I'm fans of them watching on the show; so, very excited to see them in the game. They also offer very cool move sets as well. I think those guys are very excited about -- I'm always excited when we offer new Superstars to the roster because usually we change probably about 50 to 60 percent of the roster each year with new guys. So, that's always really exciting because we're mo-capping new moves, we're doing new entrances. Triple H has been in the franchise for all nine years now. So, it's kinda like we want to do somebody else. We want to do something new. I know roster's always a big kind of sticking point with the fans, and I know it's never enough, I know they want more and more. It's always something that we're concerned about and we talk about quite a bit. We always want to offer the most up-to-date roster possible as well as Superstars we know are going to be on the show by the time the game comes out because WWE is like any other company where things change all the time. People leave, people come -- so we try to keep up to date as much as possible. We know it's a challenge, but we also want to make sure fans are happy and that they're experiencing new Superstars that have never been in the franchise before. So, that's what I get most excited about.

IGN: Okay. I know you talked little about ECW. They're not available when you first start 24/7 Mode, but eventually, they invade and they're non-playable and they are a crucial part of the storyline. Were you worried about that as well? You were talking about fan backlash.

Cory: There is a little bit of worry. Basically the bottom line is that we can't have everyone playable in 24/7 Mode. It requires everyone to be able to do voiceover work for us and also requires that they're strong performers. Sometimes we might get a Superstar in the booth that isn't the strongest performer and so for these cutscenes to go off well, we need to have strong performers. So, it's unfortunate ECW is not playable this year. Like you said, they do have a role in the season mode. They'll also be playable in all other modes as well as GM Mode. We do offer them there, but as far as experiencing the storylines, we focused more on the more popular Superstars in the WWE.

[#HEEL Dark Lord]

IGN: Understandable. Anything I haven't asked you that you want to touch on? I mean, I know there are thousands of things.

Cory: Yeah, I know there is. I'd like to talk about some of our new modes if that's cool.

IGN: Yeah, great. I love ECW Extreme Rules Match.

Cory: Oh, you do? Very cool.

IGN: Yeah, it's like wrestling in the arena. That's what I tell everybody. I'm a huge old school ECW fan. So, to be able to walk around and they're holding stuff out -- I love it.



Cory: We really like the ECW match because we got excited about fan interaction and them giving you weapons. We did that last year, but now we're taking it a step further with them kind of helping you out with the moves and stuff like that. That's very cool, and it's all in the front row. It feels like it's kind of a rowdy, interactive area all around the ring surrounding you. That's very cool, and then we thought it would be really great to be able to customize what weapons you want in a match. We've never had a customizable match before. This is kind of the first way you can do that where you can say I want a barbed wire 2X4 and a mop and a guitar to be my weapons only in this match. We thought that was also really cool. It gives you some more customizable options. We added the tournament mode this year so now we have this thing -- even in our office -- where we want to see who is the best SmackDown player so we have a tournament. But we have to make up our own on the white board or whatever. So, we give this forum in the game. We have a lot of different tournaments, too. We have the Money in the Bank Match Tournament, We have SmackDown! vs. Raw where you can only play as SmackDown characters you can only play as Raw characters and meet up, see who's the best of both brands. That's a really cool new mode that we've never had in the game before. That's very exciting. We also have the Hall of Fame mode, which gives you a series of challenges, and really, it's just match-ups. Fantasy match-ups. If you want to be a Legend, you have to experience this match with Shawn Michaels and Triple H as DX, and you have to overcome the odds that we set up for you. So, we also have that mode as well. It gives you another single-player experience. Another mode to go through and some cool unlockables in there as well.

IGN: Great. Is that everything you want to talk about right now? I mean, obviously we could talk all day long.

Cory: Yeah. I think that's it. I think that's cool.

IGN: Great, Cory. Thank you so much. It's always a pleasure.

Cory: Definitely.




Bryan Williams -- Creative Manager

IGN: So, we're here.

Bryan: We're here.

IGN: Almost game day.

Bryan: Yeah.

IGN: Everything's done pretty much?

Bryan: Everything's done, yeah. When's the game coming out? Two weeks? The 13th's going to be here really quick.

IGN: Yeah. What do you think of it?

Bryan: Without sounding biased -- 'cause I'm not. I've only met you that one time --

IGN: Yeah.

Bryan: But I think that you would know by now that I'm a very straight shooter. I just shoot from the hip. But I honestly really do believe that this is one of the best SmackDown games that we've done -- if not the best.

IGN: What makes it that?

Bryan: It's the gameplay. I think the gameplay in this year's game is much more refined. It's more responsive. The things we've done with the submissions -- mapping them to the right analog stick. The evolution of Ultimate Control Grapples -- we've now included escapes and reversals out of those. I just think every aspect of the gameplay from the environmental grapples -- which last year when we introduced them, only some of them had reversals and now this year, not only did we include one additional one, but we've got reversals for every single one of those situations. It's one of those things I can't really quantify what it is, but I just think the gameplay is that much more responsive and more fun.

IGN: Yeah.

Bryan: We're not as strict as in keeping it real with the realism as we have in previous games -- which some people like that some people don't -- by the end of the day, I'm all for what makes a game fun. And if we have something in the game where it's like with the weight detection -- so-and-so can't lift so-and-so because he's of a different weight class -- I was like "You know what? No." If that limits my fun, it's not fun going in for a grapple only to see an animation of a guy struggling to lift him up. Being a videogame, there's some things -- I feel -- you can take some liberties with.

IGN: Yeah.

Bryan: And we expressed those this year -- not as if we don't have weight detection in the game. It's there, but it's not as visible and as pronounced as it was in years previous.

IGN: And Fighting Styles play into that doesn't it?

Bryan: It does.

IGN: It changes how your character plays all around. I mean, you're not going to see Rey Mysterio trying to powerbomb somebody.

Bryan: Exactly. That's a great segway into the Fighting Styles.

IGN: That's what I do.

[#HEEL Dark Lord]

Bryan: I wouldn't expect anything less. I think with the introduction of Fighting Styles -- that's a feature that's here to stay. I really do hope that the fans, the media, they like the Fighting Styles. I think it adds a layer of depth to the gameplay that hasn't been there before. And it makes all the different Superstars play differently. So that if you have a Batista or Rey Mysterio, you have to learn how to use their abilities to the best of your advantage to get the win. I love being able to play as Rey Mysterio or any high-flyer and be able to do springboard attacks off the ropes and reenact all that cool stuff I see watching WWE programming or any wrestling promotion. You know?

IGN: Yeah.

Bryan: To me personally, I love the high-flyers. I love that fighting style. It's fast. It's flashy. The moves are impactful. Like, I just love it.



IGN: Nice. This is completely jumping off the tracks here --

Bryan: Jump'em. Jump off the tracks.

IGN: What did you think of the 619's debut on Heroes? Did you see that the other week? Like two weeks ago?

Bryan: No.

IGN: There's this girl, right, whose power is anything she sees she can redo. She saw her brother was watching a pay-per-view, saw Rey Mysterio do the 619 and so somebody tried to rob her chicken joint and she 619'd him around this pole.

Bryan: Are you serious?!

IGN: Yeah.

Bryan: That was on Heroes?

IGN: Yeah. It was rad.

Bryan: Oh, snap.

IGN: She swung around this pole and kicked him through a plate-glass window.

Bryan: Nice. I might start watching Heroes just for that.

[laughter all around]

IGN: Well, double back I think two episodes.

Bryan: Okay. She's like the Taskmaster. I don't know if you read comics.

IGN: No, no, I do totally.

Bryan: I'm a comic nerd as well as a wrestling nerd.

IGN: Well, you're a big nerd then like me.

Bryan: I am. I'm an uber-nerd.

IGN: This is why we connect. This is why we connect so well.

Bryan: Hey.

IGN: Handshake.

Bryan: Handshake.

IGN: Handshake for the readers.

Bryan: Nerds unite.

[laughter all around]





IGN: Way back now. Cyber Sunday tonight. What are you thinking? Are you excited?

Bryan: Oh, I'm really excited. I was concerned though because I heard -- as I'm sure you did, too -- Matt Hardy, he cut himself Tuesday. Did you see that on SmackDown?

IGN: No, I heard about it though.

Bryan: I saw it Friday before I left for here, and I was kind of worried that he wouldn't be able to be in shape to wrestle today, but apparently he is. That's the one match I'm really looking forward to. MVP versus Matt Hardy because that's my -- right now -- that's my favorite feud in WWE. Bar none. I think MVP and Matt Hardy are just awesome together.

IGN: Yeah.



Bryan: And their whole rivalry is -- I think it's just creative genius on WWE's part. For as long as it's been going on, it's never gotten old or stale. Every week they evolve it. The fact that it went from them being arch -- actual hatred -- to almost a grudgingly mutual respect for one another. And now, they're tag champs. I just love the whole dynamic of that feud.

IGN: Yeah.

Bryan: So, I'm looking forward to that. And I hope that the fans pick a wrestling match 'cause if I wanted to see MMA, then I'd order a frickin' UFC pay-per-view. I want to see a wrestling match.

IGN: Yeah. I understand.

Bryan: And those guys are both so good at wrestling it's like I don't want to see anything else.



IGN: Now speaking of good segways, you just mentioned Matt Hardy getting injured. I'm putting you on the spot right here. I'm play 24/7 mode.

Bryan: Okay.

IGN: I'm Matt Hardy.

Bryan: Okay.

IGN: I hurt my back. The nurse on the e-mail says take seven weeks off, but I couldn't do it.

Bryan: Yeah.

IGN: Why?



Bryan: If you're playing as a Superstar, you can't not wrestle. If you're scheduled to wrestle for that event, you have to -- either you simulate it or play it yourself -- you do have to wrestle or fight. But the thing with the injuries in that mode is as you get little minor injuries, you get the e-mails saying "Hey, you know, you might want to take it easy. You're accumulating a lot of fatigue." The thing is, that for the player to be successful in that and take care of their Superstar, is that periodically during the week take advantage of those R&R activities to lessen the fatigue. If you ignore those, you do get injured and because you are forced to fight, you go into the match with a disadvantage because you've got limb damage already and everything. It's one of those things, that when you get those e-mails -- like when I play -- because I never want to go into any match -- especially a pay-per-view title match -- with any limb damage because it's too costly. During the week, I would recommend -- even if you don't need it -- just run at least one R&R activity per week. That'll keep you on the straight and narrow.

IGN: Doctor Bryan.

Bryan: Doctor Bryan, yeah. That's what I'd prescribe. That's what I'd prescribe. And then to that effect in addition to doing that, is that you can improve your skill as far as your recovery rate also for the fatigue that you get on the off days. I would run those skill improvements and take at least one day R&R a week.

IGN: Now, this reflects on me I think because obviously I write all these previews but I don't think the fans have a great understanding of how it's almost like an RPG. You can expand your stats on how you're going to recover, you can expand on how you're going to deal with pain -- why did you want to put that in the 24/7 mode this year?

Bryan: At the time, it's funny because we weren't even thinking of including those RPG-like elements, but when I play it, yeah -- it's very RPG-like because you're constantly upgrading your character and we just wanted to give players freedom as far as what they wanted to excel at in terms of their abilities in the ring, which is something you can do in 24/7 Mode that you can't do in any other areas of the game. Like if you're Batista, you're already strong, but he's not naturally very talented on submissions. But in 24/7, you can do training to improve his submission stat if that's what you want to do for Batista to progress in that mode. If you want to improve your on-camera training, you can do that in lieu of improving other things. It opens it up and it makes so that when you play the game each player's going to go through it a completely different way. It's not a mode where everybody's going to have that same experience because everyone's going to build up their character to their specifications versus just a pre-scripted path saying this is the guy, take him here -- boom -- game over. So we really wanted to keep it open and make it so the player was really in charge and in control of their character.

IGN: Okay. Final question here -- not even a question -- make a comment. I just interviewed Elijah Burke.

Bryan: Awesome guy.

IGN: Took his picture. However, I'm not going to take your picture because fans can see you when they buy the game. Where should they be looking for you?

Bryan: They can see me in the crowd. I'm, I'm one of -- there's not that many brothers in the crowd so I'm easy to spot out -- but I'm wearing a really loud, striped green, green striped polo shirt. So that's me, people.

IGN: What sign do you hold up a lot?

Bryan: … "I'm a Dirty Diva."

IGN: He is a dirty diva, ladies and gentlemen.

Bryan: I am a dirty diva. Yeah. I think that was a joke on Yuke's part. God bless Yuke's. I love them. But, yes, I am in the crowd as is Cory and a lot of other people from THQ. I am definitely more pronounced than most others.

IGN: Well, great. Thank you so much, Bryan.

Bryan: Thank you, man. Thanks, Greg. It's always a pleasure talking to you, man.