They actually started that Direct with a Smash reveal (+ Club Nintendo rewards), trailers for Bravely Second and Etrian Odyssey which were already announced, and a One Piece game that was not N3DS-exclusive. They didn’t start talking about the New 3DS until almost halfway through the Direct, and closed with the big reveal of Xenoblade 3D. Plus, that was only the Japan reveal. February 2015 was a full-on general, with Wii U and 3DS games, before Reggie launched into New 3DS talk!
Obviously it’s not a 1-1 comparison because that was a pro model rather than a new generation, and 2014 was still a very different era for Nintendo. That said, I don’t think it’s entirely out of the question that Nintendo could spend the first 20 minutes of a Direct unveiling the next Switch and discussing it’s features before rolling out some games coming that will take advantage of the hardware (with most being playable on the original Switch as well). Overall it kind of depends on how much they have to work with on the base Switch for next year beyond March.