Nintendo has plenty of small I.P's and remasters to start 2018 in the post holiday lull they can easily announce in a direct. Heck I only just realize Mario Sonic 2018 Olympics is a definite possibility with the winter Olympics in Feb.
Planet Robobot and Twilight Princess HD are all games announced in directs and released without a E.3 showing that did pretty well.
The Democratic Nintendo fan....is that a paradox? I'm fond of one of the more conservative companies in the industry, but I vote Liberally and view myself that way 90% of the time?