For reference, in 2013 Nintendo ran two general Direct presentations, one on 13 November, the other on 18 December.
November 2013 mainly consisted of the final push for releases coming that month: new trailers for Super Mario 3D World (including a spoiler for the unlockable
), A Link Between Worlds, and Mario Party: Island Tour. There wasn't much else apart from information on upcoming system updates (NNID integration and Miiverse 3DS), a preview and December release date for the last wave of Pikmin DLC, and February release dates for Bravely Default (NA) and Professor Layton.
The equivalents this year are the last character trailer for Smash and a final push for Pokémon OR/AS, both retail compilations of NES Remix, and Captain Toad. Also note that Mario Kart and Hyrule Warriors DLC, while separately advertised, have not been shown off in a general Direct: we can expect details and release dates. And then there is Amiibo, of course.
Notice the lack of big announcements of full-priced retail games we didn't know existed.
December 2013 revealed several unannounced titles for the first time: Hyrule Warriors, NES Remix, Dr Luigi, and Chibi Robo: Photo Finder. The last three were all available within a month. Wii Sports Club: Golf and the Sonic Lost World Yoshi DLC were also made available immediately. As for early 2014 releases, a demo for Bravely Default was confirmed for January, Yoshi's New Island received a Spring release window (but no date), and more details were provided about the minigames in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. A March release date was given for Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright. Other than the newly announced Hyrule Warriors and a character trailer for Smash, the game furthest from release that was shown was Mario Kart 8. No release dates were given past March.
As Nintendo has moved towards fewer, denser Direct presentations over the course of this year, and as Smash already received its own half-hour session last week, it looks as though most of us in this thread are assuming that tomorrow's Direct will serve the same purpose as both November and December 2013's combined. If that assumption is correct, we can expect specific release dates up to February or March, including possible demos, eShop/VC games, Amiibo patches, or DLC available as early as December or January. (As I said before in this thread, a highly likely candidate for a downloadable game available on short notice is Mario vs. Donkey Kong, which is tentatively dated for 2015. Also note that between NES Remix 1 and 2, Dr Luigi, and Pushmo World, there is a strong precedent for unannounced downloadable games to show up on less than a month's notice.) In the best case, a game with an indefinite release window (read: Xenoblade X) could be narrowed down to the first half of next year.
That is, however, quite a lot of material to cover. Remember that both the November and December Directs last year were half an hour in length. So it's possible that tomorrow's Direct won't cover nearly as much as we expect, and we will get another one sooner than we think.
So tomorrow I expect:
- One last character trailer for Smash
- One last push for OR/AS and Captain Toad, with possible demos (given that an OR/AS demo already exists in limited release)
- A push for the first two waves of Amiibo and details about integration with games that are not Smash
- Dates and details for upcoming Mario Kart and Hyrule Warriors DLC
- A reminder about Ultimate NES Remix and NES Remix Pack
- A reminder about holiday Wii U bundles (e.g. the 3DW + Nintendo Land bundle in NA)
- Upcoming Virtual Console releases, likely including DKC for NA
- At least one unannounced eShop surprise available between now and January
- February/March release date for one or both of Yoshi's Woolly World and Mario Maker
- February/March release date for Monster Hunter 4
- New features (e.g. local multiplayer or single-player) detailed for Splatoon, with no specific release date
- Xenoblade X confirmed for the first half of 2015, with no specific date (it would surprise me, but the Soraya Saga RT instills confidence)
The list above could easily fill half an hour.
Outside bets (pick one or two):
- Full release plan for Art Academy Wii U, including pricing for people with the existing sketchpad software
- Yokai Watch localization officially announced
- Code Name: STEAM confirmed for the first half of 2015 (or the first-party 3DS calendar will look very blank)
- Kirby and the Rainbow Curse confirmed for the first half of 2015
- January release date for Mario vs. Donkey Kong
- One unannounced full-priced retail game (for either system) with no release date in sight
- Fatal Frame localization confirmed
- N64 Virtual Console announced, with an initial offering of no more than three titles and a pricing/upgrade plan
Not happening:
- Any mention of the New 3DS or the Xenoblade port in NA/EU
- Information about SSB4 DLC
- Any acknowledgement of SMTxFE
- Any acknowledgement of Watch Dogs (really, why bother)
- Star Fox trailer (Zelda is an extreme long shot, but I really do not expect Star Fox)
If the Direct tomorrow is on the slimmer side, expect another one in December, as was the case in both 2012 and 2013. There is more than enough material for two shows, and that's just the stuff we know about.