Recent comments from the producer of Super Smash Bros. Brawl reveal that he does not want Snake to be the only non-Nintendo character in the game, but if he can manage it, it will only be “one or two” more outsider characters. He also added that the characters must have appeared on a Nintendo platform previously.

So, since the name of this site has the word “future” in it, it’s our duty now to tell you who they’ll be. And who they ought to be.

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Nintendo President Satoru Iwata dangles another feature carrot in the lead-up to the release of the Wii: connected to the internet, it can serve as a source for the Download Play feature of the DS, meaning you’ll be able to get all the latest demos as they’re released.

What’s not mentioned in this interview, though, is the capability for the DS to download not just from the Wii Connect 24 service but also from a game. Clever game developers can push a mini-game onto the DS that also can talk back to the Wii, giving players the chance to collect some points or catch some fish or whatever while they’re away from home; something similar to Microsoft’s “Live Anywhere” service, but without the hassle of needing a PocketPC or a certain kind of phone to use it.

Read – Regaining what we have lost : Nintendo CEO Iwata’s Ambitions for the “Wii” [Tech-On via 4 Color Rebellion]

It’s a rule: any offbeat project must have a Mario component in its proof-of-concept if it is in any way possible, whether it’s a Roomba that responds to MIDI instructions, or making fun of wire-fu.

Speaking of, Wired reports on this real-time wire-fu adventure based on Super Mario Bros.. Sure, grad students from a smart school may have been Mariofying virtual reality years ago with real science stuff, but that doesn’t diminish the efforts taken by NYUers to take on real reality with nothing but some scaffolding, bungee cords, and a discount card for Jo-Ann’s Fabric Shop. I mean, who are you to dismiss the advanced post-graduate nature of 1980s Japanese game show technology?

Read – Strap Up and Jump Like Mario [Wired News]

Reggie Fils-Aime has been promoted from his old job as VP of Marketing to President/COO of Nintendo of America.

It’s been a treat, seeing him go from some poor schlub delivering a hilariously unconvincing declaration of his abilities in the ass-kicking and name-taking departments at E3 2004, to a self-deprecating likable sort at E3 2005, to the ringmaster of Nintendo’s Wii Extravaganza in 2006.