Nintendo has announced a Direct coming February 13, 2 PM Pacific Time. There will be corresponding Directs for Europe and Japan (coincidentally, Japan will be having their Direct on Valentine’s day), and it is clocking in at 41 minutes in length.
Obviously, expectations are high for the 1st Nintendo Direct of the new year. Fans have made several observations regarding this Direct, such as how the time frame (41 minutes) matches the time allotted for the 2013 E3 Nintendo Direct. The second longest a Direct has been is 37 minutes, for the one held February 13, 2013. That Direct was also the date that they announced the Year of Luigi.
Now, the most likely titles to be covered are Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, Yoshi’s New Island, and Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy. Obviously, with the given time frame there is a lot more that can be announced as well. Speculation has been rampant among fans since the announcements have received retweets from people who work in (or are related to employees of) Next Level Games, Platinum Games, and Monolith Soft. Platinum and Monolith Soft in particular are working on Bayonetta 2 and X, respectively.
Most interestingly, Masahiro Sakurai has retweeted the Direct announcement, and made reference to it in today’s Smash Bros screenshot. Sakurai pointed out that Japan will be seeing the Direct in Valentine’s day. Regarding the screenshot itself, we see Princess Peach demonstrating a new move, creating a rainbow with her outstretched hands (almost a la Spongebob Squarepants).
We won't indulge in the speculation ourselves because, really, if you seek it out it's not hard to find. Suffice it to say a lot of fans have constantly kept guessing Nintendo's motivations, as has the whole industry. We'll make sure to keep you up to date with tonight's Direct.