Is it CRANKY time?

I'm just kidding. I love Cranky.

I am very optimistic because of the wording of the announcement.

"focusing on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS software launching through spring 2014." - why does this make me optimistic? Because every time that they've used the word "focusing" in their Nintendo Direct announcement, it has turned out to be... inaccurate. They've always had some other things to announce.

They'll spend about 3/4 of their time on games releasing by Spring 2014, but there'll be at least one big surprise, probably something set for release in late Summer.

Meanwhile, here's what I specifically expect: Mario Kart 8, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Wii Sports Club (focus on Golf - probably with a short demonstration of it), and probably Bayonetta 2 for Wii U, plus Mario Golf: World Tour (probably a segue from Wii Sports Club Golf), Yoshi's New Island, and Pokemon Bank...

I also expect some third party mentions, probably including Watch Dogs, Child of Light, and possibly the third Sonic game. I also expect a few surprises here - I honestly think that Nintendo has had a cap on announcements of games for their consoles, so that publishers don't talk about 2014 titles until Nintendo gives the green light. Now would be the perfect time to reveal their first-half-of-2014 third-party lineup, if my speculation is right, in my opinion - the PS4 and XBO are out, they're known quantities, and the launch hype is now fading. Trying to compete with those launches wouldn't have made sense, but announcing this stuff now could make a real difference. Of course, my speculation could be wrong - it's speculation, after all.

I definitely expect a new Smash Bros character reveal. I get the sense that Sakurai has been itching to announce the next character, but has had to hold it back for a reveal event. If it's a returning character, I'd expect either Yoshi (to tie in with Yoshi's New Island), or Pokemon Trainer (to tie in with Pokemon Bank). But I actually think it will be a newcomer. Rayman or Pacman would be cool, but for the moment, I'm going to predict Little Mac.

would love to see a wiiU surprise something or other. probably not but it would be nice.

Mario Kart and Yarn Yoshi are almsot a given since Kart is launching in the next few months, but most of them are more than likely going to be Q2, Q3, Q4 if they even come out this year. X is a likly canidate for being 2015 since I expect it to be big and have a "normal" Monolithe Soft development cycle of about 3 years, Bayo and Smash Q2, SMTxFE either Q4 or 2015.

My guesses are Mario Kart 8, Yarn Yoshi, Kirby, Bravely Default (For US), maybe a third party title or two, and a lot of Indie stuff.

I hope that it's all about Cranky Kong. I would'nt mind it to be 30min only about Cranky Kong goodnesses. I need my Cranky Kong fix.

In all seriousness, litterally anything WiiU related would be better than Donkey Kong. I had a overdose of information for this game that no one cares that much about.

Can someone tell me what time this is on in the UK? Too tired to work it out right now.

I'll watch for the exciting stuff like Mario Kart 8. Hopefully they won't spend too long on stuff like HD version of Wii Sports.

Krangy kong gameplay for the ones who missed it!

I don't see anything big being announched right now, I expect the January Direct to fill that role.

Unless this is the "january" direct.

Things that Nintendo could do to completely blow the proverbial socks off everyone:

1. Zelda U revealed, looks mostly like the E3 2012 demo, confirmed for release in 2014.
2. Smash Bros set for release before Spring, half price for the download version if you buy a Wii U prior to end of 2013 and connect it to the eShop.
3. Beyond Good & Evil 2 confirmed as Wii U exclusive, to be released in April.
4. Nintendo reveals a deal with Activision, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 to be Wii U timed exclusive, other systems won't get it until early 2015.
5. Metroid Prime 4 announced, to release in May.
6. Third Sonic title confirmed to be Mario & Sonic, a new adventure game with platforming elements (but not a platformer - a little more open-world), for release in June.
7. Wii Music U unveiled, actually looks like a really good game.
8. Miyamoto's new IP revealed, Nintendo's first internal FPS.
9. Nintendo reveals that the "unprecedented" EA partnership never did fall apart, it was all just a ruse, long list of EA titles revealed to be Wii U exclusive in 2014.

Let me be clear, using bold text: This is NOT a set of predictions. I think the chance of any of these happening is so low as to be almost negligible. This is a bit of outrageous prediction, just for the fun of it. Because people don't have enough fun.