This, or maybe they know some fools will buy the game on name alone

You're inventing arguments, now. NPCs? More enemies? Why would they need to show these things now? Do you think someone is sitting somewhere going "I was thinking about buying a Wii U, but I'm not going to do it unless I'm convinced that Zelda U has dungeons"? Or "I was thinking about buying a Wii U, but I'm not going to do it until I see some Zelda U NPCs"? Seriously? And we have most certainly seen a forest - it was in the first trailer.

What Nintendo has been doing is what they do for EVERY game that they announce well ahead of time - they drip-feed information. They don't show off every facet of the game well in advance, they show just enough to build a bit of early hype. And generally, they then go quiet in order to build the anticipation for more information.

Zelda U got a trailer, no less legitimate than the X one. The one for X showed a guy running a few times, and then a guy fighting some big beasts (which is really the focus of Xenoblade), and those... I think they're being called dolls, but I could be misremembering. The Zelda U trailer saw Link being chased through a forest area by a huge contraption-like miniboss creature, wherein he shot bomb arrows and then pulled out a fancy-looking arrow/beamsword thing. I'm not sure what makes you think that didn't count as a "real trailer".

SMTxFE was announced in January 2013, not in April 2014 (perhaps you meant to say April 2015?), with nothing of substance in the trailer (just art of various characters). And we saw NOTHING of it until April 2015 - not a single bit of actual trailer, not a single hint of the game's design, no in-game play, not even teaser art. Kind of ruins your argument. And to make matters more complicated, it's not SMTxFE at all anymore. It's GIR #FE. And in spite of what you claimed, it releases this year, in Japan (December 26th). So in other words, they showed NOTHING of the game until about 8 months before release.

Fire Emblem Fates was revealed in January this year, without a title. It was released 6 months ago in Japan. In other words, it got 4 months between reveal and release.

Nobody thinks Zelda U is cancelled - Nintendo literally said, less than a month ago, that it's still coming to Wii U. Whether it's going to be ported to NX as well, either for simultaneous release or delayed release, would be asked whether they showed the game off or not. So I really can't follow your logic.

It seems like you're intentionally ignoring facts in order to justify your claims.

If Nintendo's goal is to build hype for Zelda U, they are failing miserably.

Their virtual radio silence on the title for the last 12 months has brought the hype train grinding to a near halt.

They don't need to build hype for Zelda U now. They need to keep it on a slow simmer, maintain a lower level of hype. And if you think the hype train has "ground to a near halt", then you haven't been paying attention. We saw 13 seconds of Zelda, and it was just the camera circling Link on Epona in a field... and that was enough to inspire what seems to be 100 different analysis videos, extensive speculation about that book, etc. And when you add Twilight Princess HD and Hyrule Warriors Legends (with the Linkle reveal), the hype for Zelda in general is pretty strong - some are even speculating about Linkle appearing in Zelda U.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. And it seems to be working. People all over the place are talking about Zelda.

Yet you have people here still begging for more? Maybe YOU just feel that way and should spend more time on what you have now. Which is precisely what Ninty wants.

They need all the hype they can get, Nintendo's cred with gamers is arguably at an all-time low at present.

And the fact that 13 seconds of footage caused such a stir is because fans have been starved for 11 months, it's like a guy who hasn't had a drink in two days losing his mind over a dripping tap.

Again, what is the benefit of that hype, now? Do you honestly think there's any gamer who is holding off on buying a Wii U because we haven't seen enough of Zelda U?

Nintendo's "cred with gamers" isn't anywhere near an all-time low. They just won at the Video Game Awards in two categories that, a year ago, people would have scoffed at the idea of Nintendo even getting a nomination, with Halo, Destiny, CoD, etc all releasing in 2015, with a game that completely bucks the trend of the genre. Super Mario Maker is being lauded far and wide. Xenoblade Chronicles X is so strongly regarded, the only way that reviewers can justify being controversial with a lower score is by claiming that it's "too big" with "too much to do". Smash just got Cloud confirmed as DLC, with a big hype machine around what else they've got to reveal in the upcoming Smash presentation (which looks like it'll either be on Monday, or on the 16th). There's a big Pokemon announcement coming in the next week or so (probably on Monday) that has everyone speculating. Hyrule Warriors Legends is hotly anticipated - practically a first for a Warriors title in the west.

The only way you can claim their "cred with gamers" is low is if you look only at two titles - Mario Tennis, and Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival - two titles that were clearly stopgap titles, rushed to fill the gap made by Star Fox Zero. And most people are just ignoring those games.

And yes, they've starved people of Zelda U information, so that 13 seconds of footage showing Link on a horse becomes a big thing. That's EXACTLY my point - hype is a relative thing. Water that is freely available is boring. Water is the most delicious beverage in the world to a guy dying of thirst. By being so stingy with the Zelda U information, they're keeping everyone thirsty for more. So when they DO have the big reveal in about 6 months, it'll taste all the better for it (if you'll excuse the continuation of the metaphor).

People were near-orgasmic over that 13 seconds of footage. What happens when they have the big reveal?

Look at Wii U's sales. They are getting annihilated even by the much-derided Xbox One, much less the PS4. It's on track for a whopping 86% decline in sales from its predecessor. Even 3DS will be lucky to sell half what the DS did. Look at how much disdain mainstream gamers have for Nintendo these days. I'm curious, tell me, when it their history as a console manufacturer has their situation ever been this bad?

And just cos the man dying of thirst gets excited over a drop of water, doesn't mean he can live on it. Hype dies down if not regularly replenished with new momentum.

Are you ignoring the part where I ask how more Zelda U hype would help? Wii U sales wouldn't be any better with more Zelda U hype. Like I said - those who haven't already bought a Wii U in preparation for Zelda U aren't going to decide to buy earlier because of a trailer. Those who haven't already bought it, but want it for Zelda U, are going to wait for the game to release.

Indeed, the best way to get people buying a Wii U who are waiting for Zelda U is to provide another Zelda title in the meantime as a "play this while you're waiting" kind of thing. Hence, Twilight Princess HD.

And Wii U sales numbers aren't as important as Wii U profit figures, anyway. Nintendo's making a profit again, even with the costs of development of NX. Only gamers on the internet give a crap about the raw numbers of units sold at this point - it's all about profit. And before you invoke the "third party" angle, I'll point out that the third party won't be coming back to Wii U, no matter what Nintendo does - it's now at the point that Nintendo should focus on NX in that regard. So no, third parties don't give a crap about the raw numbers, either.

The radio silence on Zelda is just a symptom of the larger problem; Nintendo are totally out of touch with today's market and don't know how to effectively sell products any more. Consumers in 2015 don't like radio silence, they don't like being kept in the dark, they don't like long stretches of having nothing to get excited about. They need frequent stimulation.

Nintendo are arguably less relevant on the gaming landscape than at any point since 1985. Wii U and 3DS will be their lowest selling console and handheld, they have posted multiple annual losses this gen, and have only recently clawed back a narrow profit margin.

Look at how Sony are hyping Uncharted 4; substantial new material rolled out every few months. That's what NIntendo should have been doing with Zelda.