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By any measure, this year’s US Presidential election has been one of the wildest in history. And it’s taken another turn for the bizarre as Vice Presidential candidate–and admitted gamer–Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is now the star of his own fan-created version of Sega’s Crazy Taxi.
The (Sega) genesis of this creation came from a New York Times profile on Walz that revealed he was such a dedicated Dreamcast player that his wife confiscated the system from him. When IGN tracked down Walz’s Dreamcast, one of the previous owners said that a copy of Crazy Taxi was found inside of it. That gave video game developer Edward La Barbera the idea to add Walz to Crazy Taxi, while including his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, as a special guest character.
Via MPR News, La Barbera explained that he was inspired by former President Bill Clinton’s appearance in NBA Jam. La Barbera added voice clips from both Walz and Harris to the game, and he also decided to add background elements from Walz’s home state, Minnesota.
“I chose a more Minnesota-casual flannel outfit for Tim because it was easier to create than a suit,” said La Barbera. “That snowballed into trying to make the world into a wintry Minnesota environment instead of California. I replaced palm trees with snow-covered pines, replaced the stadium with Target Field, and the mall with the Mall of America.”
La Barbera has posted his Tim Walz mod online, but it’s only playable through an emulated version of Crazy Taxi.
