TVSquad Talks To Host Chris Harrison on "The Bachelor" Wii Video Game

[JamesG]

EXCLUSIVE: "The Bachelor" Video Game Trailer
by Kim Potts
posted May 17th 2010


So you wanna be a "Bachelor" or "Bachelorette" player, but don't want to lay your life bare for reality TV?

No worries; just make room on your video game shelf for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's upcoming "The Bachelor: The Video Game", which hits stores for Nintendo Wii and DS in June.





AOL TV has your exclusive first look at the game trailer, which features the previously announced Jason Mesnick as a playable character, along with the announcement that "Bachelorettes'" Trista Sutter and Jillian Harris and "Bachelor" Andy Baldwin will also voice video game versions of themselves in the game.




More scoop on "The Bachelor" gameplay:

In single-player mode, it's structured like the TV show. That means you'll play several "episodes," where you compete against other characters within the game to score alone time with the "Bachelor" or "Bachelorette".

In the Wii version, you can also go for multi-player action, where you compete against friends, who may turn into frienemies when they try to sabotage your love match and deny you the chance at a rose.





Oh, and speaking of the rose ceremony, "The Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" TV host Chris Harrison also pops up in the video game, which is a good thing. Unless you're that Rozlyn character, of course ...

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/05/17/th...ogame-trailer/

[JamesG]

The show has become such a phenomenon that it's now spun off into a video game.
Are your kids impressed that you star in a videogame?

That's gotta move me up, because how many dads at school are in a video game? But the only thing is, when you tell them what video game you're in, it's not like it's some war game or driving game, but it's still gotta move me up on the list, right?




Will you allow them to play "The Bachelor" game?

Absolutely. In all seriousness, they were very excited when I told them about it.

The kids are really over the moon. It's so cool that we have a video game coming out about the show.











What do you think fans of the show will like most about the videogame?

Well, obviously, it's an homage to our fans and our show. So if you love the show, you're really going to enjoy hearing my voice [laughing], the usual phrases -- like "the final rose" -- and setting up the dates.

And I did all the voiceover stuff myself, so it really is kind of like that same "Bachelor" mode. And also, the same characters as on the show, the same people, like Trista, and Andy Baldwin, all the other people we've gotten to know and love over the last eight years are in it.





I also think that nobody watches our show alone. You know, I run into women who watch the show all the time and 90 percent of them say, "Oh, my group on Monday night, we all get together," so I can only imagine how fun it's going to be for these groups to get together and play it.

You know, not that I would condone this, but I'm guessing there might be a nice bottle of wine, and a bunch of ladies getting together and playing the videogame. The same groups of people who get together to watch the show are going to love the videogame.











Do the players of the video game get to manipulate the matches, who hooks up?

Absolutely! As you go along in the date, you can sabotage, you compete against game characters, you can do multiplayer mode with up to three friends ... you can definitely sabotage each other, sabotage dates as you go along.

Also, there are things you're gonna do as you go on these dates. There are challenges and dates along the way, to kind of move you along and determine whether or not you get a rose. And there are personality tests, where you actually learn more about yourself, not only in the game, but in real life.

And you check your compatibility against the Bachelors and Bachelorettes and against your friends in the game ... so the more you unlock, the more you do, the more fun it is.


You find out some interesting stuff about yourself and who you're playing with.








So it's sort of a dating self-help game?

There is a real chance that this video game will actually help people hook up.
We could have "Bachelor" / "Bachelorette" couples come out of this video game.











Does it surprise you that the show has reached such a place in pop culture that it now has inspired its own video game?

Absolutely! You know, people say, "Did you ever think 'The Bachelor' franchise would turn into this?" No. Anyone who says they knew "American Idol" or "Dancing With the Stars" or "The Bachelor" was going to turn into this phenomenon, you're wrong, you're lying. You just never know.



This day and age of TV, to last eight years and 20 seasons is remarkable. And when you are a part of "SNL", or you become a one-liner in all of the late-night talk shows, that means you have become a part of pop culture.

You're a part of society, and then, to take this next step and become a video game, you have to be part of the consciousness of the country, to feel like we're going to sell video games.


So, it's a huge testament to the franchise and to how far we've gone and how long we've been around.











What do you attribute that to?

The host! [Laughing] There's only one constant in the show. There's only one reason we've been around for 20 seasons, and that's me. At least, that's what my agent always tells ABC.

No, but really, there are a number of reasons, though, I think more than anything, it's the fans. The viewers have accepted what we've done, and they've believed in what we've done, and they have basically invited us back year after year.


That's the only reason ... viewers keep showing up. And our producers have done a phenomenal job. They have evolved the show over the years, for sure. I think in the beginning, it was a novelty. But as the years go by, there's so much reality TV, and the "Bachelor" game has changed. We had to become much more savvy, much better storytellers, kind of break all the boundaries. I think you've seen, in recent seasons, there really are no rules to this show any more. It's not just the pretty little TV show that goes on a date.




We kind of had this pattern for awhile, but the fans demand more. They demand to see behind the curtain and see what's really going on, so you have the Jake and Vienna special, or you have Rated-R hobbling around the hotel after he gets busted for having a girlfriend. You have to show these things now.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/07/19/ch...orette-moment/

[Hawkee]

I remember seeing The Bachelor Video Game for the Nintendo DS in a Safeway supermarket during Christmas when Mom and I were Christmas shopping for groceries and Safeway had a display of videogames in their checkout lane and so I asked Mom if I could have The Bachelor Video Game for Christmas and sure enough Mom gave it to me for Christmas as a stocking stuffer. Believe it or not I started playing The Bachelor Video Game a lot more after watching Chris Harrison on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and this is the video game that made me a Chris Harrison fan. The game itself is really cool on the Nintendo DS and has lots of challenges. The hardest challenges on the game for me is the one where you have to color nature scenes and the first challenge where you have to inflate a hot air balloon. The Nintendo DS version of this game has quizzes that you can unlock as you progress through the game. But in the Nintendo DS version of The Bachelor Video Game Chris Harrison's voice isn't heard but a really cute virtual likeness of him is featured. I hope a sequel to this video game will be released soon for the Nintendo 3DS because it's really great to play
Bestie