Why The Splatoon 3 Devs Are The Best, In One GIF

Sometimes, during these surprise Nintendo Direct presentations, developers will just do the darnedest things. This includes the Splatoon 3 studio Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (Nintendo EDP) whose nondescript “squid researcher” dazzled us with both late-breaking research findings and his impressive ability to balance on one leg.

I mean, look at the above GIF. This five or so seconds of pure, athletic gold comes from the Splatoon 3 segment during today’s Nintendo Direct showcase. The researcher, who’s totally not series creator Hisashi Nogami, took the chance to prove that Pilates and yoga probably do improve your balance by making a three with…his body? It’s definitely a choice to market a game, but one I’m absolutely here for.

The pose struck me so much, in fact, that I tried to hold it for as long as I could. While my balance is pretty solid, in large part due to decades of skateboarding, I couldn’t hold this weird contortion as long as the esteemed squid researcher did.

This wasn’t the first time Nogami-san—I mean, the researcher—used his body to market Splatoon, either. Around the launch of 2017’s Splatoon 2, the researcher was captured on video using his hands to make the number “2” in the air. And then there was whatever the hell this pose was, which Know Your Meme called the Squid Dab:

https://twitter.com/embed/status/980040308783239169

Funny poses aside, today’s Splatoon 3 announcement contained a bevy of new information about the upcoming third-person squad-based shooter. Players can check out new weapons (like a bow), customize their squid-kids with more styles, pilot ball-shaped mechs that transform, and engage in an expanded-looking single-player story that aims to deliver more tastes of the series’ oddly dark lore.

The Nintendo Direct livestream came with many other reveals as well, like confirmation that Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games are coming to the Nintendo Switch Online service next month, a look at the next Kirby game, and the announcement of the adorable, Mario Kart-like racer Chocobo GP. Check out the biggest news here!