Former PM Shinzo Abe surprises with a peek at his sweet gaming laptop

I bet he zergs…

Ever since he resigned as the Prime Minister of Japan, I’ve become convinced that Shinzo Abe will one day do a gaming livestream. That’s not nearly as crazy as it sounds either, as mounting evidence seems to suggest that he’ll do just that.

It all started last October when Abe launched his own YouTube channel. It was a rather conservative affair, but he seemed to embrace certain YouTube tropes, suggesting that he might gradually warm up to the format over time.

It was still wishful thinking at that point, however, but more hope arrived on 24 December, 2021, when Abe posted a video of himself playing the piano. It was a surprisingly good performance, but that’s beside the point. More importantly, he posted the video with “…hiitemita” (“I tried playing…”) in the title, which is widely used by amateurs who like to show off renditions of popular songs on YouTube. However, Abe did it with the more polite phrasing of “hiitemimashita.”

If the former head of government could post an “I tried playing piano” video on his YouTube channel, could a game stream really be that far behind? It’s still a big leap to be sure, but the idea seems to have had at least entered the sphere of possibility.

And now, I’m thrilled to report that it might have taken yet another step into becoming reality!

Check out this tweet by Abe from 3 March, 2022. In it he explains that he gave a lecture to The National Bureau of Asian Research, a U.S. think tank that advises on policy in the Asian region. That’s great and all, but look really closely at the picture…

全米アジア研究所で講演しました。ウクライナ情勢、台湾への影響、抑止力強化などお話し、国際秩序が深刻な挑戦を受ける今、地域の平和は日米の決意と行動にかかっていると申し上げました。TPP、QUAD、エネルギー安全保障など幅広いテーマで質疑も行い、日米同盟強化の重要性を共有しました。 pic.twitter.com/TdYa43cqOG

— 安倍晋三 (@AbeShinzo) March 3, 2022

First, when looking at the far side of Abe’s keyboard there’s a shine that at first glance might be mistaken for the glare off the fluorescent lights of the office. However, upon closer inspection, he clearly has backlit keys. These are a staple of gamers because they help to map out complex interfaces on PC games, but are of little practical use to anyone else.

Still not convinced? Think maybe he just appreciates the speed and reliability of a gaming laptop but only to get his day-to-day work done?

That may be, but looking even more closely at the picture reveals a more damning piece of evidence. This will require some considerable zooming but luckily the image it the tweet has a high enough resolution to barely pull it off.

If you can, zoom right into the display of Abe’s laptop and check out the icon on his taskbar, third down from the right, and tell me he doesn’t have the PC game distribution platform Steam installed on that thing.

▼ Here’s a clearer picture of the same icon (the rightmost icon) on a different computer for comparison

Now you might be saying, “maybe he’s just borrowing someone else’s laptop,” to which I can only reply: Why are you trying to crush my dream?

Really though, without a more intimate knowledge of the security protocols surrounding the oddly specific situation of a former Prime Minister who becomes a Member of Parliament and then gives a private lecture to a foreign agency, it’s hard to say if that’s his laptop or not.

So why not join me and these other online comments in having fun with the idea that Shinzo Abe is out there somewhere playing Elden Ring on his laptop.

“Dude’s a PC gamer. lol”
“RGB keyboard!”
“It looks like it has a GeForce RTX too.”
“Is that a gaming laptop? Abe-sensei let’s play some games!”
“I like his shiny rainbow keyboard. lol”
“I’m more interested in his laptop than whatever he’s talking about in the tweet.”

That last comment says it all really. The public has spoken, and the public wants to see Abe stream some gaming. And quite frankly, as an avowed public servant it technically is his duty to play video games publicly for our amusement and ultimately for the good of the nation.

That being said, he probably needs some time to train on whatever it is he likes to play. And in the meantime, if his grandmother gives him any sass for gaming, we know the perfect comeback he can use.

Source: Twitter/@AbeShinzo, My Game News Flash
Top image: Twitter/@AbeShinzo
Insert image: © SoraNews24
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