Many were disappointed by the complete omission of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii. But in a baffling turn of events four new characters have been announced for what might be the most anticipated of the Wii's launch titles. The five new characters are Pit from the obscure Kid Icarus, Zero Suit Samus from Metroid, Wario from WarioWare, Meta Knight from the Kirby series and, most importantly SOLID SNAKE FROM METAL GEAR SOLID. Other than these four, the only confirmed characters are Mario, Link, Kirby and Pikachu, and some interviews suggest the addition of Zelda, Ganondorf and yet-to-be-shown Twilight Princess characters. But, of course, we can expect the majority of the SSBM cast to return. But the addition of Solid Snake opens up a world of new possibilities for the series.

A big relief to Smash Bros aficionados is the announcement that the gameplay in Super Smash Bros: Brawl will have gameplay similar to that of SSBM, as many rumor were abound, suggesting a Power Stone-style remake, said Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the series. He went on to discuss some of the moves for the new additions. He pointed out how with Snake, he didn't want to make the game too realistic by having Snake use legitimate, real weapons, and has instead vied for adding pick-up weapons that would fit with Snake, like rocket launchers, which would suit him well. Sakurai also addressed there's a possibility for more third-party characters to be added to the mix. Needless to say, Sonic, Knuckles, Megaman, Viewtiful Joe and Leon S. Kennedy all come to mind as viable possibilities, but it will take time to find out. Time, unfortunately, is no longer on their side, as for all this good news there is the bad news that SSBB is no longer a launch title.