Ignore any skepticism, you're right. A google search for NX filtered to "News" turns up reports from Forbes, International Business Times, Express.co.uk, and Economic Times. It's not just nerds talking, and this is an intentional move. I'm not sure why this is such a touchy subject for some people. Compared to the hoopla other companies have generated for media/consumer attention, this isn't even a strange move. It's just another day at the races for these guys, you know? It's the type of thing they do.

Even if it wasn't planned, It is perfectly reasonable that they had nothing to share at first, then noticed that it was working to their favor... Why would they speak up now? These are business news outlets publishing articles daily, with no new information to share... And the people with the money are the ones who matter to Nintendo right now. Doesn't matter if it's clickbait for core gamers or not, because wider audiences are seeing it.

Nintendo is a multi billion dollar company. They can and do spend up to $800 million dollars on advertising. They're not just a bunch of naive Japanese guys sitting in a treehouse making wild guesses in the dark, or something. We're not qualified enough as individuals to judge whether or not their tactics are "smart" or "working", anyways, and that includes my own rant here. That being said though, It's no shocker they'd stay quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time just to generate interest, they've done it before, and it's worked for them, so why wouldn't they do it again?