hopefully this is true, it's still not complete confirmation but, gonintendo is a reliable source

 Oh I agree the evidence has been stacking up for quite a long time, I just won't actually believe (though I want to) that it is online until I see it on the Dojo.

The thing that first made me start really thinking that SSBB would have online was the first major delay.  We all knew the game was close to finished except for tweak, like almost alpha, for a good while.  I also know that it takes at the very least to get online functionality for game on a known system (like a PC network) at the very least 6 months (and that's just a barebones version).  The timing of the SSBB delay seemed about right with them adding online functionality along with further gameplay tweaks and balances.

/me crosses his fingers

Old or not still a good to get confirmation or two.

If Mario Strikers Charged works pretty well online...and there's minimal lag there...it's a crazy game with plenty of stuff happening onscreen...

Brawl will be using plenty of the Wii's power, but I think it could work online like Strikers does...with minimal lag. Between now and December 3rd, I'm pretty sure they could figure it out. Yes, I'm sure they could. Throw a few million dollars from all the DSs printing money into some server stability or something, I dunno.

I may just be setting myself up for disappointment, but at this point I think it's more likely to have online than not. That said, even if it doesn't, I'll still have a blast with this game.

I hope it does for the sake of the stupid fanboys out there who won't buy this game if it doesn't have online.

I suppose I shouldn't care about them...but I guess I'd like more people to enjoy Smash.

I think this is just retailers reporting strong rumours as facts. Not worth aknowledging.

Is wi-fi the same as online play btw, or some specific type? I'm not quite sure I understand the distinction here.

Eh, Wi-Fi means wireless online capability...which usually means online play. It could mean simple things like updates or rosters, or whatever...but it usually means multiplayer of some sort.

It should just say "online" or something because some people use a LAN adapter, but whatever.

yes it is the same thing, but its Nintendo's name for it, like for Xbox it's Live...

edit: to parokki 

Well the CoroCoro article was specific about Wi-Fi battle mode, and it's the more reliable one anyway.

Parokki, I agree that retailers alone (even if Japanese ones tend to be more accurate) are not a good bearing, but CoroCoro is historically very accurate about inside news on Nintendo games.  Again, I'm not saying that this is by any means 100%, but it certainly makes things look likely.