If I were working at Nintendo in some sort of advertising/marketing capacity, and I'm not, I'd automatic add 1 year to whichever release date the developers thought was reasonable before making announcements. This way, instead of apologizing for inevitable delays, I could bring awesome news that the game is ready a few months earlier than expected. Of course, I'd still need to provide the illusion that the game was not rushed to market...
Ok, new plan. I'd take the developers reasonable release date prediction and announce the game publicly as being released around 6 months earlier than that. Then, somewhere down the line, I'd announce a fake delay, citing more time needed to make game the best in the galaxy, then apologize for this. Our dedication to creating the best possible game is visible to the public, and they really wouldn't have gotten the game until the original/"delayed" release date anyhow. We all win.
I'll submit my résumé immediately.