Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz dusts off his controller to stream Crazy Taxi on Twitch: 'The Republicans will accuse me of never having a Dreamcast or something'

Tim Walz, the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, made an appearance on the Twitch channel of congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez today. The two primarily discussed the upcoming election, but also took some time to play Madden NFL '25 and Walz's avowed favorite, Crazy Taxi.

"You can pick these characters and I found this out⁠—this might be the coolest thing I've had happen to me⁠—there's a character of me in there," Walz said while booting up Crazy Taxi, presumably in reference to Edward La Barbera's mod to put the VP candidate in the game.

Though clearly a little rusty, Walz put in a solid performance taking on a few fares. He made great time on his first passenger, but failed to stick the landing, overshooting his stop. "I'm terrible, I don't know the controllers on Xbox," he offered. Controller Johns at their finest, but come on, we've all been there. Walz also remarked that he appreciated the slapstick chaos of Crazy Taxi's driving over something more realistically violent like Grand Theft Auto. "I'm like a New York cabbie: I'm driving the wrong way," he quipped to Ocasio-Cortez.

"It's kinda retro, right?" He then asked Ocasio-Cortez, which gave me flashbacks to every time I've tried to show someone the crusty old games that I enjoy. Walz also urged viewers to pick up Crazy Taxi for themselves, saying that "If you haven't got it, go get this game people, it is really sweet."

Walz also reminisced about first getting the game and his Dreamcast back in the day: "It was the first time I had a real job⁠—I was an adult⁠—and I had money. I was married and my wife was not really approving." He eventually brought the system to his workplace when his wife asked him to get it out of the house, though it seems to have been misplaced at some point over the years. Walz joked that its hazy fate might come back to bite him in the election: "The Republicans will accuse me of never having a Dreamcast or something."