Imagine 1 unlockable character in MKWii that would implement the face of your Mii; awesomeness!!!

Also, NGamerUK says Nintendo of Europe are pulling a lot of strings to bring it to Europe first, and in 2007 if possible despite being a 2008 in the release dates.

I don't remember Sakurai ever saying Brawl would be "bare bones" with online. I remember him saying that Wi-Fi functionality is important to him, and an online ranking mode is unlikely. That's all that he's said about it. I'm sure if it's online it will be 4 player.

It seems it was all speculation...

Dangit.

Indeed speculation.  They say Official Nintendo Magazine likes to make stuff up...a lot.

“The details printed in Official Nintendo Magazine 21 regarding Mario Kart Wii were healthy speculation on our part and are in no way an official announcement from Nintendo. We are sorry if we have mislead anyone. We do not set out to mislead our readers. ONM apologises profusely for any misunderstandings that this has caused.” - ONM

Oh...haha. I didn't realize you edited the OP. Well that's good...I was thinking about throwing that quote into the OP if you didn't.