VP Candidate Tim Walz, Noted Dreamcast Lover, Was Apparently A Crazy Taxi Guy

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is preparing to formally accept the Democratic party nomination for Vice President this week at the Democratic National Convention. And just before that happens, we may have learned more about his classic gaming habits.

Following his selection as the running-mate for presumptive nominee Kamala Harris, a profile in the New York Times outed Walz as a Dreamcast fan. Players on the high school football team, where he coached, recalled him sharing stories that the kids found relatable, like when his wife took away his Dreamcast because he played it too much. Naturally this sparked speculation about what game had hooked him so deeply.

IGN reports that it tracked down a series of subsequent owners of Walz’s Dreamcast, tracing it back to a man named Tom Johnson. Johnson worked as an intern for Walz’s congressional campaign, and one day Walz brought in a box of personal items he had planned to donate, but that the interns might like to use instead. Among them was a Dreamcast, which went mostly unused in the congressional office. Johnson ultimately took the Dreamcast with him to college and said that he recalls seeing a copy of Crazy Taxi already in the system when he took it.

As Johnson notes, Crazy Taxi was a common game for Dreamcast owners, so it may not have necessarily been Walz’s favorite. But that it was sitting in the console suggests at least some level of affection for the driving game. And that’s probably the most definitive answer we’ll get on the matter–unless he happens to bring it up during his DNC speech. Given his jovial demeanor in other speeches, that’s not outside the realm of possibility.

Image credit: Getty Images/Andrew Harnik