IMG_8662.JPG
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

Keen followers of Nintendo Life will recall that back in July we were fortunate enough to get the chance to interview one of Nintendo's rising stars, Splatoon co-director Tsubasa Sakaguchi, when he visited the UK. Grasping this fantastic opportunity with as many appendages as humanly possible, we sent contributor and resident songsmith Ryan Craddock, who - as luck would have it - had recently composed a Splatoon-inspired tune that he was asked to play in front of Sakaguchi-san.

To quote those terrible click-bait news stories you see all over the web these days, you won't believe what happened next!

Just as Ryan was about to launch headlong into his musical masterpiece he was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of two totally unexpected guests. Thankfully there was little danger of him smashing up his guitar in protest and storming out of the interview, partly because the duo was none other than Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka - who were also in the UK to promote Super Mario Maker - and partly because Ryan's a lovely, mild-mannered chap who wouldn't hurt a fly. Or a Yoshi, for that matter.

An understandably shell-shocked Ryan then got the chance to sit alongside this trio of esteemed developers for a photo opportunity which - as one onlooker stated - looked like a promotional skit for a new boy band. Suggested names on a postcard, please. He also had the honour of allowing Miyamoto to finger his beloved instrument, which isn't a euphemism for anything so get your filthy minds out of the gutter you utter scoundrels (we were clearly talking about Ryan's guitar).

To round off an amazing day, Ryan even got his limited edition Ambassador New 3DS console signed by both Miyamoto and Tezuka, exponentially increasing its monetary value in the process. Ryan then skipped around the room gleefully muttering something about "eBay" and "getting rich", but we couldn't quite make sense of his garbled speech. That's what meeting game development legends does to you, unfortunately.

Yours truly was acting cameraman for the day and I simply couldn't resist shamelessly imposing myself on Miyamoto and Tezuka and requesting a cheeky photo with these two gaming deities.

20150706_170459.jpg

I haven't washed that shirt since. Or my hands. Or my entire body.

You can watch whole magical event in motion below, and while you're at it don't forget to subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube for more exclusive video content.