United Gamer Online (UGO)

Gus Johnson is renowned -- nay, revered -- in most circles for his ability to induce rapid-fire heart attacks on television viewers during sporting events; Johnson is best known for his highly charged, uber-enthusiastic calls, which he'll now be bringing to EA Sports Madden NFL 11 in just a few months.

The Madden team tapped Johnson as the new play-by-play voice for the world's most popular sports game, and with good reason. Look no further than Johnson's call of the Week 1 game between the Bengals and the Broncos for proof as to why he'll re-energize gameplay for online football fanatics.

Johnson's inclusion was part of the Madden team's decision to really focus on the audio inside the game (particularly with "open field progression audio," like a game-winning, breakaway touchdown run) with this rendition, a very welcome decision indeed.

And thanks to the fine folks at EA, FanHouse had a chance to catch up with Gus and ask him about being associated with the franchise, how they worked in his style, whether he realizes how many myocardial infarctions he's been responsible for, what kind of lines he created for the new game, and if he every saw the Gus Johnson Soundboard.

Will Brinson: Alright, Gus, thanks for talking to FanHouse today, man.

Gus Johnson: No problem, bro. No problem.

WB: Let's dive right in then, because the internet's already blowing up with the news -- you're the new play-by-play voice for Madden '11. I'm a huge fan myself, so, first of all, are you a player yourself? And how excited are you to be teamed up with this franchise?

GJ: Well, I've been playing Madden since like '93, but I've always been a video game player, dating back to when I was a kid, starting with Atari and head-to-head football and stuff like that. And I do play Madden -- I had been playing for a lot of years but stopped playing as much when I had my son, because, you know, I just didn't have enough time. But it's incredible to be part of this franchise; EA Sports is obviously the leader in video games in the world and to pick me to be the voice of the No. 1 sports video game of all-time and one of the top video games of all-time, to trust that to me as their voice, I can't even say it's a dream come true, because I never even dreamt that big. I never thought that anything like that could ever happen, especially when you consider the guys who came before me, guys like Pat Summerall and Tom Hammond.

WB: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the story I heard was that the Madden team at EA Sports actually heard your call from Week 1 of the Denver-Cincinnati game -- and I actually went back and watched this clip to just get ready for this interview -- that ended with the Brandon Stokely touchdown and they saw that and knew they wanted you. Is that how this relationship formed?

GJ: Actually, it's a deeper story. You know, last year I did NCAA Basketball 2010, which was with Coach Raftery. And it was a duel package because they were offering [gamers] a CBS broadcast version and a regular ESPN broadcast version with Brad Nessler and Coach Vitale. So I was out in Vancouver a lot last summer and I was working and doing the voiceover for NCAA 2010 and they slipped the word to me that the Madden guys were possibly looking for a new voice.

So they had me, while I was there, read some lines for the football game kind of as an audition tape. And they had other guys on the list, I think, but we kept talking through the summer and then the football season starts and Week 1 happens and that Brandon Stokely play took place and that Monday they all went into the office and looked around the room at each other and made a decision on who they wanted and then we worked out a deal.

WB: Okay, so when you've got something like the Kansas State-Xavier game this year or the Cincy-Denver game ... how hard is it to bring the enthusiasm from a live game over to something like a video game where you're not actually watching it?

GJ: Well, you know Will, I had to use my memory. And I had to become an actor to be honest with you. And hopefully, when the game comes out, that's been transferred over to the game. Because basically, you're in the booth by yourself with a whole bunch of scripts; we recorded something like 60,000 to 70,000 lines (Ed. Note: Gus himself actually recorded about 30,000 for the game out from that total).

So what you have to do is imagine if you're calling a big touchdown ... "And he catches it at the thirty, he's gone! A 95-yard touchdown!" You know, you've got to get there, in your mind and you gotta open yourself up and not be embarrassed that you're yelling and screaming or getting worked up in a booth by yourself looking crazy.

So I had to stand up most of the time and let the energy get out of my body so I wouldn't feel like I was incarcerating my spirit and to try and deliver these lines in an authentic way, similar to the what you hear on Sunday or during a basketball game I'm doing. So it took some time to get in the pocket, but once I got there, it started to feel more natural.

WB: So you're "working with" Cris Collinsworth on this -- were you guys synched up in the booth or did they have his quotes in the can or did they redo the whole nature of the in-game experience?

GJ: Well, it was a combination. But, mostly, since -- you know, he's such a professional. He sounds so good. And he's a perfect match for me, but Cris is the voice of reason, you know?

WB: Right, right, and you just induce heart attacks!

[Laughter all around] GJ: Right, right! There's a great balance there, though, of fire and ice.

WB: Did you develop any new lines for the game itself?

GJ: Oh yeah. We got some new lines, that's for sure.

WB: So can we get a sneak preview?

GJ: Well, I'd love to, man, but then I'd have to kill you ...

WB: [Laughing] If I wanted that, I'd just go back and watch Xavier-K-State again!

GJ: Haha, well, I want it to be a surprise. Because the great thing about the game, Will, is that with these lines is that they're going to fire off. And when they fire off, for people that know, it's gonna really hit 'em hard. It's gonna be surprising -- we tried to bring emotion to the game, we tried to bring some humor to the game, we tried to bring some pop culture to the game.

So, it's going to be very different -- we targeted our young demographic that loves sports, obviously, loves Madden, loves video games, loves hip-hop, loves, you know, the "culture." That's what we tried to focus on and we tried to make it entertaining.

WB: Color me stoked, then. I gotta know, too, did you ever see the Gus Johnson Song Buckets site?

GJ: Ha, well there was so much. I saw this thing with a little dog, which I thought was hysterical.

WB: It's the Gus Johnson Soundboard ...

GJ: Yeah, yeah! I did see that -- that was really cool, man. It seemed like it was a very positive thing.

WB: Oh, definitely. I wasted at least an hour on a Friday playing with that thing. Which kind of leads me into my last question: you're definitely one of the top announcers in the game, and the younger audience -- sports writers and fans my age really love your calls -- do you think that joining up with Madden is a step to really vault you into a bigger scope of public recognition?

GJ: Yeah, yeah, I think so, because I'm going to be really connected with a younger audience. And that 18-35 demographic is a really powerful audience. Millions of people buy this game, millions of people play it ... 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, somewhere around the world. So I'm sure lots of moms and dads are gonna be tired of my voice [Hysterical Brinson overlaughing] and yelling and screaming and acting crazy with their kids.

But I think after some time after hearing that voice and becoming more and more familiar and yeah, I think it'll help grow my profile.

WB: I definitely hope so, Gus. Well, thanks again for talking to FanHouse again and I'm looking forward to checking you out on the new edition of Madden.

GJ: Great talking with you too, Will -- I'm looking forward to it too, and just hope we hit our mark.