Look at what they did with Smash Ultimate.
Literally everything has nailed it.
They’ve been flawless.
The first trailer, with the Smash ball in the Inkling’s eye, was the best possible way to announce the game at the end of a direct largely focused on Splatoon. Get people super excited for “Everyone is Here!” and Ridley at reveal, then keep the hype going with the Belmonts and K. Rool, follow that up with the most “disappointing” event they’ve yet had, complete with a Pirahna Plant nobody asked for, and then immediately break everything with World of Light.
Then, on the night of release, disguise a trailer for your first DLC character so well that everybody thinks it’s a port of that game before dropping the biggest surprise of gaming’s largest awards show. In particular, the lack of leaks surrounding Joker made it way more exciting (although I’d argue the Grinch leaks helped Nintendo by making the front end of the last Direct seem like even more of a letdown than it was supposed to be before revealing World of Light).
The timing of all of these peaks and valleys has been so perfect. There can be no doubt that Nintendo has mastered the hype cycle.
