It hasn't been outright stated that all clones were out. Just that "some characters will not be returning" and people made their own conclusions based on that. Please give a source if you've heard differently.

I see a clone more as their fighting style, not the actual person. Like Fox and Falco were pretty much clones, if I remember.

PREDICTION: SONIC.

No original reasons though, like everyone says, great Sega-Nintendo relationship, X'mas release of the Olympics game. The European guy REFUTING Sonic is actually a good sign; spokespeople are usually non-committal about things, but this could indicate that there are strict orders from headquarters to be extra tight-lipped about this and flat-out lie when asked upon by reporters.

Something marginally original: Sonic & Mario Olympics might be a byproduct of Sonic in Brawl negotiations. Nintendo I'd imagine would want the votes to count for something so as to maintain future fan interests, so negotiations started soon afterward. Maybe this Olympics game is actually a term in the contract; I mean, Nintendo has never given up control of the Mario characters anywhere else, neither has Sega on Sonic. A little quid pro quo if you ask me.

I'd put the odds at over 75%.

ps. yes, i read that miyamoto would be supervising the project also. but A) sega is gonna be publishing this and B) miyamoto pretty much supervises everything...

A few things. First, Parokki, the clones are likely to go. They werre added just so Melee wouldn't be delayed. Dr. Mario expecially as he was added just for Mario clone and his music. Falco might stay as he was added due to popularity. Marth(while not a clone) will stay. Mpost popular Fire Emblem Character. Also, only 1-2 3rd party characters will make it(exluding Snake)

 My prediction

• Diddy Kong-The main reason is he should have been in the last two games. He was on the top of the most popular list for both Melee and Brawl. He is also the sidekick to Donkey kong, which is a franchise that needs more characters
• K. Dedede-Sakurai always saw Kirby, Dedede, and Meta-Knight as a colorful trio so it wouldn't be out of the picture for Dedede to get in. He was high on both the Melee and Brawl poll(scoring the covent 5 request on the Brawl poll). One reason we never say him is Sakurai liked to put other characters before his own. That seems to have cghanged ans it may be his last time working with them
• Ridley-I am a bit skeptacal of him. The boss battle music means nothing. But, he is requested a few tim on the Brawl poll and is definatly popular in the States. Sakurai also said he wanted more Metroid characters
• Krystal-She has become popular amounst Starfox fans and has earned herself a lot of credit over the short time. She is also a female(needs more of) and she appered a few times on Sakurai's poll(more then Wolf)
• Little Mac-Another "Why weren't they in brawl" character. He is a famous character from Nintendo's past and Punch-Out was popular in both Jaspan and the US. He also appered on Sakurai's poll
• Ike-What gives him an edge over the other Fe characters is he is the first)(and so far only)world renounded FE character. Which Sakurai siad he wanted(not to many Japanese only guys). He alsio appered on Sakurai's poll a few times.
• Lucas-Most becuase Mother is really popular in Japn. REALLY. Mother 3 is also REALLY popular and. Mother 3 music is also confgermed for Brawl. Oh, and he appered on the poll.(Even on the Melee one before the game was canned)
• Takamaru-Odd huh? First he's a Samurai which those crazy Japs. like. He is also popular amoungst classic gamers in Japan. With the Famicon minis(NES here) is game got it's own commercial instead being lumbed into the larger one.
• I don't like to mention 3rd parties as much but expect Sonic and Megaman(loved in japan)

King Dedede(5)
Diddy Kong(4)
Geno(4)
Ike(4)
Ridley(4)
Captain Olimar & Pikmin(3)
Krystal(3)
Takamaru(3)
Windwaker Link(3)
Animal Crossing MC(2)
Claus(2)
Demiru(2)
Isaac(2)
Jeff(2)
Kawasima(2)
King K.Rool(2)
Lip(2)
Lucas(2)
Mega Man(2)
Oguma(2)
Ouendan(2)
Sukapon(2)

^That is the list of all the characters who got more then one mention on the poll(meaning he liked the segestion).

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=71872&highlight=Fliptroppa (Full list)

Uh who are 75% of those characters?

Geno? Hes from a Mario RPG game from 10 plus years ago..If anything put Mallow in the game :)

Ridley? A flying alien would never fall to its death unless you chop its wings off

Lip? Lucas? Ouendan? WTF. who?

Krystal?..That chick-fox from Starfox on Gamecube? Ya i can see her being a favorite character. Please

Jeff from Earthbound?Great game but c'mon. What is his super powers? The super nerd? 

Kawasima ?????  http://www.taiwanfun.com/south/kaoping/shopping/0408/0408Kawasima.htm

Sukapon??? The limbless warrior!?? ROFL!http://forums.nintendo.com/rss/message?board.id=smash&message.id=1292526

King dedede??????  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Dedede... Oh, that thing. BARF

yeeaah?  Thank god Nintendo has its own team coming up with the characters in SSBB!

Wind waker link could be more whimsical, mirror shield? faster? use of other weapons/items that regular link doesn't use in smash.

I'd like to control a Koopa Troopa or Hammer Bros. Maybe some of the Koopa Kids.

Ganon, not just the dorf.

Battalion Wars Generals

Giant (aka human sized) Chibi Robo and the annoying sidekick. (as one unit)

Astronaut and the Pikmin (again, as one unit)

Paper Mario, or better yet a Paper Mario/ SMB3 hybrid character.

I could go on all night.

The Koopa kids..not a bad idea at all.

OK Hotshot. Guess you don't want anyone in brawl then hmmm. If yyou hate the characters on that poll then you will not be a happy camper when Brawl comes out. The poll are what segestions Sakurai liked. So they have more promedence then other characters. If you don't like these characters then who? These are most of the characters that have yet to make it into Brawl without being lame.

No, Sakurai did state in a Q and A officially that there WOULD BE NO CLONES. He meant moves though. That doesn't mean Falco isn't returning, it just means he won't have the same moves.

Got a source on that? As in article/transcript about the Q&A session? I've been following any and all news about this game extremely closely, and looks to me like this is another one of those "I heard from a friend's friend's cousin's grandpa" rumours. I totally agree with you that they're probably either removing clone characters or giving them original movesets, but this hasn't been confirmed anywhere.

Smaschu: Could you try cutting out some of the text from the quote field the next time? You just posted something like 70 lines of quoted text and 4 lines of your own.

Sorry, I feel like such a nag for bitching at the both of you. ^^