Nintendo is definitely making a big deal out of this game. There is both a Splatfest and a tournament in Seattle before the launch of the game. (Not sure if they announced some other tournament for people who don't live in the US.) I don't recall what Nintendo did before the launch of Splatoon 2, but I do know the install base for Switch is a whole lot bigger this year than in 2017.

I do think Splatoon 3 is going to sell even better than Splatoon 2, and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it into Switch's top 10 (which is getting harder and harder to enter.) Out of Switch's 10m+ sellers this is the youngest franchise, and I think it still has room to grow.

The only thing on my wish list is an old feature from Splatoon 1, and that's being able to see the map in real-time as you play and having the ability to squid-jump by taping on it. Losing that second screen was problem to one of the game's core mechanics, and they never really solved it. 

Oh, and the tornado special (can't remember what it was called). I want that back too lol.

@The_Liquid_Laser

I have doubts that this game will outsell Splatoon 2. While I think it will cross 10 million, outselling Splatoon 2 seems kind of hard to do. Especially since it seems like this game is more of the same. I feel like this game will be a hard sell to people like me, who have already put in a lot of hours to Splatoon 1 & Splatoon 2.

@JackHandy

I loved that special too. It was called Inkstrike. Wish they would've brought it back.

The inkstrike. Splatoon 3 will have the triple inkstrike.

I wish they showed more than just 1 minute of story mode in a 30 minute show, and I feel like they spent too much time overexplaining basic features, but I can't complain too much as I wanted a look at the campaign and I did indeed get that. From what was shown, it seems to be taking some cues from the Octo Expansion in terms of design.

The new 3-way Tricolour Turf War is definitely the headline feature and looks like a cool addition.

I like the new Bow and Splatana weapons as well. 

I understand this place isn't the best to say something like this, but I think Splatoon would be an amazing mobile game. The concept fits so well with mobile games...

We must have very different phones if you think that Splatoon could work on a phone. Guess I’ll never understand that world. Isn’t Fortnight on mobile too? How in the heck?

Obviously I'm not saying to port the exact same game. It most likely won't run, but like COD mobile for example they can make a mobile version. I think mobile games are complete different games for the most part. I'm not rlly sure about Fortnite bcuz I have heard it can crossplay or something but the quality obviously isn't great.

I feel like I somehow came out of that direct feeling more and less hyped for the game, despite that making no fucking sense.

I think I was kind of hoping for something a little fresher. Some kind of major shake up to the formula. And that wasn't really here. There were lots of little things and refinements. I like that weapons and clothes are on different currencies, because I would always hate buying clothes because I wanted weapons. The new megabosses in Salmon run look cool. It seems that they've streamlined the process for tweaking clothes to your liking so its less of a grind. But, aside from the card game (who saw that one coming) there's nothing that feels super new.

On the other hand, seeing the direct reminded me just how fun Splatoon is. And there is enough new stuff that will make it worth diving in again. Ultimately, this feels like a weird sort of gray area. There's way too much for it to have been an expansion, but not quite enough to make it feel like a brand new game. But I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun, and I guess that's what matters.