Since we found out back in August that Tim Walz’s wife made him give up his Sega Dreamcast, folks have been obsessed with the idea that the Democratic vice presidential nominee is a fan of Crazy Taxi. We’ve had investigations into the matter, and modders adding him to the game. Today, Walz played Crazy Taxi on a stream with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Walz and AOC were mainly streaming Madden (unlike his stream of World of Warcraft earlier this month, Walz was actually playing), when they took a break to play some Crazy Taxi with Walz at the wheel. Before the game started, Walz explained that since he was a school teacher at the time he got the Dreamcast, he thought the recently-released Grand Theft Auto might be “a little bit harsh, so there was a game similar to it: Crazy Taxi.”
“Am I getting really punked hard on the comments?” he asked, before detailing how he bought a Dreamcast because it was “the first time I had a real job, I was like an adult, and I had money.” He continued that his wife didn’t approve, “so I brought it to the office, and my wife said ‘you need to get rid of it and be like a real person’ or whatever, and I put it on Facebook or whatever, and the intern picked it up.”’ That intern, I presume, was Tom Johnson, who told IGN’s Rebekah Valentine that after Walz brought the Dreamcast into the office, Johnson ultimately took it with him to college. Johnson seemed to remember the console having a copy of Crazy Taxi, which is where this whole obsession started.
“I don’t remember exactly how that story went,” Walz explained of the discrepancies in the narrative, before worrying playfully, “I probably should: The Republicans will, like, accuse me of never having a Dreamcast or something, you know how they are.”
“I don’t think anyone can watch you play this and say you never had a Dreamcast,” AOC said of Walz’s performance, having watched him mow through pedestrians and smash into buildings.
"Our politics can be joyful, fun, everybody can participate," Walz said after his run ended. Then they both wondered if Walz would be the first Vice President to play games, with Walz saying "I don't think Dan Quayle was gaming." I look forward to Reb's investigation into that question.
