Should "Clones" Return? Thread.

[~Tac~]

Also: We know from the move swap videos that Mr. G&W is a fully 3D character with some kinda crazy real-time flatening affect placed on him to make him 2D. With a little ingenuity, it's not to far fetch to imagine the same thing being done to Mario for the creation of a Paper Mario clone.

Slightly true. I wouldn't quite say that he's COMPLETLY 3D. As for his placement on stages, since the other players are well..3D, they are placed on the side scrolling stage normally. G&W however, since he's flattened, he's probably positioned in the middle of the "wide line" the characters walk on, and is given a 3D body hitbox so that kicking his body would be a normal procedure without him bending or the kick gong behind him. (Unless dodged)

As for the Paper Mario scenario, yea. If they were to recreate clones as done in Melee, Paper Mario would basically be like G&W, with a Mario moveset.

But who knows. They might create "clones" of characters, but have completly different movesets such as someone above said.

 

[Tiamat]

In terms of moveset, I still think Paper Mario is unfeasible as a Mario clone. Part of the reasoning is this: WHY would Paper Mario share the same moves as Mario? That wouldn't make much sense and even if he did share the same moves as Mario, that'd get rid of a lot of the point about him being Paper Mario in the first place.

After all, since when in tarnation has Paper Mario ever had a cape? Or thrown fireballs or thrown anything related to fireballs? I mean, I guess he could share the Tornado move and the jump punch move, but the cape move (LOL PAPER SHEET MOVE!!!!!1 Lame) and the fire ball (what, he'll throw paper airplanes?) just seems... blech.

Okay, maybe he wouldn't be unfeasible so much as lame if he were shoehorned with a Mario moveset

Also, isn't his body shape significantly different from Mario's? A moveset clone generally needs the same proportions as the original model in order to achieve the whole point of clones taking less time and resources to create, I believe.

 

[Tera253]

3 woirds: yes they should.
~Tera253~

 

[PrinnyFlute]

I really don't care if clones are in or not, but I am hoping for my favorites to make it, if they make it as a clone so be it.

You, sir, win.

 

[Johnknight1]

I'd rather see more 20 clones than 5 more original characters. Some original characters and complete crap, like kirby.

Kirby in SSB 64 owned, wat are you talking about?! Clones were too much (then again at all is bad) of carried over crap, like Pichu and somewat YLink.

The clones simply show how little time that Sakurai, HAL Labratory, and everyone else working on the game ran out of time. I hope all the clones from SSBM are at least "Luigified" without sucking (not saying Luigi sucked at all).

Considering there is no release date set for Brawl, I think that the fact eveything is being redone is great. Clones like YLink and Ganondorf will become originals (YLink=cel-shaded Link, Ganondorf finally gets his sword!), plus Pichu and Doc are as good as gone.

Falco could be altered a bit, and Roy could have a stronger moveset, with some new intresting attacks. Overall too many clones would destroy the originality of characters, and there would be so much of the same ol' same ol'. I think that since the SSBB team has more time and resources, there shouled be minimal, if any clones.

In terms of moveset, I still think Paper Mario is unfeasible as a Mario clone. Part of the reasoning is this: WHY would Paper Mario share the same moves as Mario? That wouldn't make much sense and even if he did share the same moves as Mario, that'd get rid of a lot of the point about him being Paper Mario in the first place.

After all, since when in tarnation has Paper Mario ever had a cape? Or thrown fireballs or thrown anything related to fireballs? I mean, I guess he could share the Tornado move and the jump punch move, but the cape move (LOL PAPER SHEET MOVE!!!!!1 Lame) and the fire ball (what, he'll throw paper airplanes?) just seems... blech.

Okay, maybe he wouldn't be unfeasible so much as lame if he were shoehorned with a Mario moveset

Also, isn't his body shape significantly different from Mario's? A moveset clone generally needs the same proportions as the original model in order to achieve the whole point of clones taking less time and resources to create, I believe.

Lol, Paper Mario is way diffrent, ever played Paper Mario? He revovles more on jumping attacks, has a hammer, and has those pixie things and special attacks. He could be a original character easily, and all who doubt this seriously need to play one of the 3 Paper Mario games!

 

[rm88]

Besides, clones are added after the point of no return, when the creation of a fully unique character is no longer a possibility. So we can all rest assured than any clones we see in Brawl won't have taken away precious development time from the unique characters..

That's the only way clones should be added, as last minute additions.

 

[ThreeX]

yea i guess, clones r always cool to have... just no over-kill like in MK games, lol.. original ninjas were like what.. scorpion and sub-zero? now there's all these lame 1's like.. ermac,rain etc.. w/e neways.. yea they definately should bring more clones into brawl

 

[Johnknight1]

yea i guess, clones r always cool to have... just no over-kill like in MK games, lol.. original ninjas were like what.. scorpion and sub-zero? now there's all these lame 1's like.. ermac,rain etc.. w/e neways.. yea they definately should bring more clones into brawl

That would be awful considering how many clones there have been in Mortal Kombat games, it is crazy.

That's the only way clones should be added, as last minute additions

Nah, how about downloadable content instead of last minute adds (*cough* Pichu!). Downloadable content could easily add more individual characters, vs. adding 5+ clones with 3 weeks before SSBB goes on shelves.

The SSBB team could add characters that were original after Brawl's release, thus taking off stress. Plus considering the Viurtual Console has classic games, as well as neat features (everyone votes and internet channels), I could see this downloadable thing happening easily, and would get rid of the chance of having a clone overuse.

 

[~Tac~]

Downloadable content might not be a bad idea. Just hard to imagine downloadable characters and stages into a pre-set story/adventure mode. (Classic, Adventure, if they bring it back)

 

[rm88]

Get real, this is Wii. Downloadable stuff (specially big stuff like characters or stages) would take a lot of space.

 

[Zephynazo]

I think clones like pichu and Y.Link can be removed. But clones like Ganon,Falco and Roy, should return but have their own techniques and moves. Not a copy...

 

[SilintNinjya]

The SSBB team could add characters that were original after Brawl's release, thus taking off stress. Plus considering the Viurtual Console has classic games, as well as neat features (everyone votes and internet channels), I could see this downloadable thing happening easily, and would get rid of the chance of having a clone overuse.

i dont think DLcontent will happen, but you bring up something interesting with out realizing it i dont think....

the everyone votes channel. imagine if they were to make a world wide "what character should we make next" vote?

they would have 2 possible next characters and let the population decide who they want.

and who said they had to have their own level in adventure mode if it returns? just let them play it, doesnt mean they need their own stages(though downloadable stages for multiplayer would be cool).

as for classic mode, that would be cake. it would just randomly select a character to fight, and a stage to fight on.

 

[Tiamat]

Downloadable content sets a bad precedent. It tells video game companies they can be lazy with making games under the excuse that they can always introduce patches and downloadable content later (which often never come in the end, anyways!)

 

[Red Exodus]

That is an issue that has been brought up but many gamers, even magazine editors. I worry about it too, but in the long run it turns out to be beneficial since the game stays fresh and gets updates that people usually want. It also gives them time to test things better so they don't come off as 'broken'.

 

[Tiamat]

What if they make you pay for the downloadable content?

 

[OysterMeister]

The idea of downloadable content is iffy for several reasons:

1) Nintendo would charge for it. Seriously, Nintendo is a company that loves to make money, and if they'll charge 20$ for a nes game on a GBA cartridge, or 5$ for an nes rom on the virtual consol, then they'll also charge for a smash bros patch. It's just good business.

2)The wii doesn't have enough memory to hold downloaded content on that scale. Some kind of memory increasing device or storage thing would have to be released first, and that's looking to be a development set far in the unforseeable future.

3)It just isn't Nintendo's style. Nintendo, as a general rule, releases only finished games, and only releases them ONCE. Other companies may reuse an engine to crank out quick sequels (crash bandicoot, spyro) or updated versions (kingdom hearts) but Nintendo rarely does this. I'm not even sure Nintendo knows how. The last time Nintendo reused a game engine we all got Majora's Mask.
Why was there no update to Smash Bros Melee? Nintendo could have made money hand over fist just by releasing a smash bros with maybe three more characters and levels tacked on. It wouldn't have been hard. But Nintendo didn't, because Nintendo is a company that never revisits a released game. So I seriously doubt that work on a game, even one as major as Brawl, would continue post-release.

 

[Tiamat]

Nintendo re-releases Mario games (Super Mario Allstars, the various Mario Advance games, Super Mario 64 DS, etc)

But... that's about it as far as I can recall. That's not much compared to what other game companies re-release.

 

[Juh.]

Most clones i belive should come back, they're used right? Ganon, Falco etc.


Maybe drop Pichu cause of a low tier and not used much

 

[Johnknight1]

The idea of downloadable content is iffy for several reasons:

1) Nintendo would charge for it. Seriously, Nintendo is a company that loves to make money, and if they'll charge 20$ for a nes game on a GBA cartridge, or 5$ for an nes rom on the virtual consol, then they'll also charge for a smash bros patch. It's just good business.

2)The wii doesn't have enough memory to hold downloaded content on that scale. Some kind of memory increasing device or storage thing would have to be released first, and that's looking to be a development set far in the unforseeable future.

3)It just isn't Nintendo's style. Nintendo, as a general rule, releases only finished games, and only releases them ONCE. Other companies may reuse an engine to crank out quick sequels (crash bandicoot, spyro) or updated versions (kingdom hearts) but Nintendo rarely does this. I'm not even sure Nintendo knows how. The last time Nintendo reused a game engine we all got Majora's Mask.
Why was there no update to Smash Bros Melee? Nintendo could have made money hand over fist just by releasing a smash bros with maybe three more characters and levels tacked on. It wouldn't have been hard. But Nintendo didn't, because Nintendo is a company that never revisits a released game. So I seriously doubt that work on a game, even one as major as Brawl, would continue post-release.

Here allow me to share my point of view about this whole downloadable content deal:

1.5 bucks for 3-5 characters, a ton of new courses, features, and options, and there were no last minute additions (*cough* Pichu). Plus it gets some stress off the developers' backs, and the gme can come out eariler, with some neat expansions down the road. I look at downloadable content for other games, and one expansion pack or major downloadable content costs $5-$7, and most games that have this only have up to around 3 expansion packs and such.

2.The Wii has tons of memory, plus you can always buy more memory for it. They already have a storage increasing device out for the Wii, so this one is solved.

3.The game would be finished, of course,. plus the game could be worked on and added to, much like constantly updated MMORPG's, but to a much lesser extreme of course. Considering the last time Nintendo reused a game engine, if they do that with SSBB we'll get an even better game, hopefully one that IMO is equal to my 4th fav LOZ titles (Majora's Mask & the Wind Waker=tied).

The reason there was no update is Sakurai wanted to continue working on the Kirby series, and then went independent, Nintendo was desperate to get support so they could get out of last place with the GC, and needing backup for SSBM, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime and tLOZ: WW with newer games, like MP2: Echoes, Mario Sports, Mario party, etc.

Nintendo realized the few games the GC had online access for didn't work, and the system was nowhere near as powerful as the Xbox or PS2, and with Sakurai gone independant, Nintendo turned to their next console, the Wii (then called Revolution). Nintendo, in short realized the GCN online system was annoying, was hard to operate, and relaly wasn't that good. That is why SSBM never got downloadable content, lol.

Nintendo worked on that, and focused on tLOZ: Twilight Princess, and soon convinced Sakurai to work on SSBB, and Sakurai, his team, Hal Laboratories, Game Freak, and other Nintendo employees began working on the most important Wii title. Considering Nintendo is probably going to release SSBB in 2007, I say good for them, with the downloadable content.

Also what Nintendo has done in the past with a minimal online operating console (aka the Gamecube), and what they are doing with a full operation online-focused game system (the Wii) are two totally diffrent things. Wheater Nintendo likes it or not, they need to come into the future, and that future is downloadable content. All the other big titles, and even somewat big titles are doing it now, why not the Wii with SSBB=?

O, and for the whole re-release deal, Yoshi's Story, Yoshi's Island DS, the GBA port of Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Didy Kong Racing DS, Super Mario 64, New Super Mario Bros, and Super Mario Andvanced 1-4 come to mind. Nintendo is actually heavily know for re-releasinng the same game, or a really close remake, and Nintendo gets burned with that a lot.

 

[skullblader]

I welcome Young Link(he's faster and having both Links from Ocarina of Time is just nostalgic) and Falco,because like alot of you pointed out, he's Fox's Luigi. But Most other clones need to be either taken out of the game or reworked with new moves.

 

[~Tac~]

The idea of downloadable content is iffy for several reasons:

1) Nintendo would charge for it. Seriously, Nintendo is a company that loves to make money, and if they'll charge 20$ for a nes game on a GBA cartridge, or 5$ for an nes rom on the virtual consol, then they'll also charge for a smash bros patch. It's just good business.

2)The wii doesn't have enough memory to hold downloaded content on that scale. Some kind of memory increasing device or storage thing would have to be released first, and that's looking to be a development set far in the unforseeable future.

3)It just isn't Nintendo's style. Nintendo, as a general rule, releases only finished games, and only releases them ONCE. Other companies may reuse an engine to crank out quick sequels (crash bandicoot, spyro) or updated versions (kingdom hearts) but Nintendo rarely does this. I'm not even sure Nintendo knows how. The last time Nintendo reused a game engine we all got Majora's Mask.
Why was there no update to Smash Bros Melee? Nintendo could have made money hand over fist just by releasing a smash bros with maybe three more characters and levels tacked on. It wouldn't have been hard. But Nintendo didn't, because Nintendo is a company that never revisits a released game. So I seriously doubt that work on a game, even one as major as Brawl, would continue post-release.

1) Good point. But you gotta admit, nastalgia makes people do crazy things for that feeling of playing the game you spent sleepless nights on as a kid. Revamping it for a small price AND making it more convienient only makes it more desirable. So I consider Nintendo great marketers(or "marketeers").

2) I'm pretty sure the SD card can add to the memory, if not, I'm sure it will come soon.

3) Don't most companies release finished games "once"? You might see them again on the shelf of a store 1 year later because they forgot they had a box of them or something, but if its anything like the Zelda series, they DO release certain things more than once.

And the "No update to SSBM" part..was just illogical. Only FEW games do that -Cough-Mortal Kombat-Cough-

 

[rm88]

2) I'm pretty sure the SD card can add to the memory, if not, I'm sure it will come soon.

I'm not sure, but I don't think you can use the data on your SD card that freely, it's impossible to play a Virtual Console game from a SD card.

 

[GreenMamba]

The only game that's been able to access the SD card for anything is Excite Truck for the custom soundtrack. I think.

 

[DarkDrai]

I think being able to add new characters to the game after you buy it would be awesome. The only problem is, Nintendo is obviously going to charge for these downloads, and I don't want to have to shell out $5 for every new character that comes out. Whether or not it can be done isn't really an issue at this point. It's highly possible already, and if it isn't to the extent we've been talking about, Nintendo can probably fairly easily find a way to make it work. (Inevitably with some kind of add-on that costs more money... Stupid connectivity crap...)

As for the clones... I don't particularly care for the ones in SSBM that much. That doesn't mean I wish they weren't there, of course, and having more characters is always a good thing. However, I just hope that if there are more clones, at least some of them could be a little better than the originals. Dr. Mario, Pichu, Ganon, Young Link, and Roy were all worse than the originals, though I like Roy, so I don't feel right about grouping him with the others, but I guess I should be consistent. Falco, in my opinion, is the only clone that was a little better than the original. Then again, I hate Fox...

It's just that the characters the clones were modeled after were already pretty balanced; tweaking them a little ended up making them a tad too unwieldy, at least for my taste. Again, Fox and Falco are the exception. Fox is extremely fast and difficult to control, while Falco is actually much more balanced, I think. I'd say Roy was almost equal to Marth as far as playability goes, though. Meh. So I'm opinionated.

Look, whatever. Adding in clones is fine by me. I'm sure there are people who would play them, even if I don't particularly care for them. Honestly, I care more about the characters themselves, as opposed to whether they're clones, or not. I love writing up little scenarios and using Marth and Roy on a team just to have a couple swordsman, or having a climactic battle between Link and Ganon. So if any of the clones did come back, it would be nice if they had all their own move sets (mainly Ganon), but it wouldn't be the end of the world if they didn't, you know?

You ever notice that 4/6 clones are slower, more powerful versions of the originals? Only Young Link is clearly faster and weaker than his original (I'd say Pichu is too close to call in that department). How about a slightly faster and only slightly weaker Marth? Lyndis, anyone? *prays hopelessly*

 

[OysterMeister]

O, and for the whole re-release deal, Yoshi's Story, Yoshi's Island DS, the GBA port of Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Didy Kong Racing DS, Super Mario 64, New Super Mario Bros, and Super Mario Andvanced 1-4 come to mind. Nintendo is actually heavily know for re-releasinng the same game, or a really close remake, and Nintendo gets burned with that a lot.

3) Don't most companies release finished games "once"? You might see them again on the shelf of a store 1 year later because they forgot they had a box of them or something, but if its anything like the Zelda series, they DO release certain things more than once.

And the "No update to SSBM" part..was just illogical. Only FEW games do that -Cough-Mortal Kombat-Cough-

You misunderstand me. I don't mean Nintendo doesn't re-release games, I mean than Nintendo is notorious for not updating older games.
(Also, Johnknight, New Super Mario Bros is an entierly new game, not a re-release or remake of any kind)
Think about it. Square released all those updated graphic Final Fantasies on the GBA, as well as various final mixes for kingdom hearts. Capcom re-released RE4 on the PS2 with all that extra content, Devil May Cry 3 with an extra character and Ninja Gaiden has two re-releases: Black and now Sigma. Fable had Lost Chapters, almost every RTS ever mad had its expantion pack, and Halo 2 had all those extra levels.
Now what has Nintendo done in this department. I'm thinking... Metroid Zero Mission, a handful of pokemon games, and... anyone? Anyone else?
My point is that, based on past actions, Nintendo is far more likely to just re-release a game as is rather than mess with a finished product. Just look at the virtual console. N64 downloads don't support rumble because there's no external rumble pack anymore. Are you telling me that would be hard to fix? No, no it wouldn't. But Nintendo isn't fixing it, because they can still sell the game and make money without it.
So I can't see Nintendo bothering to update Brawl after it's released, especialy if they'd have to jump some technical hurdles with availiable memory or an external add-on device. Most likely the big N'll just sit back and let the Brawl money roll in. After all, it's not like they need the extra characters to help sell the game. It's already a guaranteed best-seller.

 

[~Tac~]

Ah. I see what you're saying. My mistake.

 

[Red Exodus]

Well at least those re-releases are good. I have Devil May Cry 3 special edition and if not for Vergil the game would cut 40 hours short and lose some replayability. I plan to get KH and KH2:FM and when I get a Wii I plan to get the remake RE4 for it which has the content PS2's verison has along with a few other add-ons. I wouldn't like it if they kept adding on minute things and forced you to buy it like what's happening with Dead Rising [Xbox 360], I'd be pissed, but I didn't like to see them squeeze more out of the games.

 

[~Tac~]

Stupid Microsoft...stealing Ace Combat from the PS3. Where's the justice..

 

[Tera253]

back on topic, by all means clones should return.
~Tera253~

 

[Zarasai]

ok. heres what i think. do i want clones to return? no. but by many other areas based in fact (such as easier to make thatn full original characters) clones provide just that extra bit. sure it may not feel much of an extra, but im sure there are lots of people who main roy, doctor mario, and falco. (heck i used pichu to beat event match 51, but then i did that with just about everybody)

 

[Blazer]

Clones are fine as long as thre aren't many. I'd rather see completely original characters over clones. 1 original>3 clones.

 

[Mysteryfox1]

I think it's better to make from clones a altered costume like for mario that you can be also doctor mario with the same moves they look only a bit different then a few clones isn't bad because you can't make a falco a altered costume of fox ofcourse as long there not to many clones then it's okay with me

 

[Lawrencelot]

I absolutely don't mind the clones. Of course, if they would spend the same amount of time and effort on a new character as on a clone, I'd prefer a new character. But I think 2 clones is better than 1 new character, as long as the difference isn't too small (I think doc and mario are a bit too similar, but cpt falcon and ganondorf are clones that I think no one minds).

2 new clones > 1 new character

 

[~Tac~]

IMO, 2 Clones = 1 Character.

I think it just really depends on the type. Ganon for one...is like the classic fighting game's "Raw Power but Slower-Than-Frozen-Molasses" character. Whereas Pichu is there for fun..and its extreme cuteness.

 

[MeloDeath]

Darkrai had a point there. The only mistake he made was call Mario better than Doc, which isn't true.
I think clones are good as long as they don't play too similar. falco and Fox are totally diferent whereas Doc and Mario basically have the same style.

New > clone
2 clones > new

The problem SSBM had with clones is that they werent really that diferent from their predecessors. If they could make clones with a mild Luigification in the moveset, i'd totally want to see alot of clones.

 

[Foxisthemaster]

I agree with MeloDeath, clones are fine, too many are no good, especially if you make them with hardly any modifications. If there is no difference then whats the point, but if their was cloning, but with new move set, well then you got yourself a whole new ball game.

 

[~Tac~]

Darkrai had a point there. The only mistake he made was call Mario better than Doc, which isn't true.
I think clones are good as long as they don't play too similar. falco and Fox are totally diferent whereas Doc and Mario basically have the same style.

New > clone
2 clones > new

The problem SSBM had with clones is that they werent really that diferent from their predecessors. If they could make clones with a mild Luigification in the moveset, i'd totally want to see alot of clones.

By "better" I think he meant the playability of Doc. I don't use Doc nor Mario but I seem to remember Doc being a bit more floaty.

But as for style..each clone "has" the same style. But, the style has been modified to an extent where its either faster, stronger, slower, weaker, stuns, knocks forward or knocks upward. Such as Fox's shine stuns or slides some back, and Falco's send them upward. Ganon's B is slower than CF's, but definitly sends foes halfway across a stage, and instant death at 50%+ (I think)

I'm not disagreeing with you, just stating that you said they all play similar to their counterparts and Fox/Falco is an exception, when the style's the same and just seems that way because of they way those two are built. But just as DarKrai said, Fox is faster and is one of the hardest to use well, whereas Falco brings a balance by having a higher and slower jump, and his dash is slower making him easier to control. They both still drop like rocks in a gravity chamber though.

 

[OysterMeister]

You can't have clones with a luigified moveset, because that's not what a clone is. The entire point of a clone is to create a character in less time than it takes to create a wholy new character. The time saved on the creation of a moveset, character rig, and basic animations by re-useing already existing ones is the entire point of the cloning process.
If you changed a moveset even slightly in the cloning process you wouldn't save time on animation or moveset design, which defeats the entire purpose of having the clone in the first place.

 

[Framerate]

I think if they do clones again in brawl, they should try to link characters with almost nothing in common, basically like Captain Falcon and Ganondorf. Two characters from the same game with the same style can be boring, but because Falcon and Ganondorf are from different games, and probably more importantly because of the speed and power differences of the two, they acted like different characters, just like they should. If clones are implemented in brawl, I wanna see Waluigig with Peaches moveset, or Toad and Tingle doing a tango (if you catch my drift :D). Snake and M.Jeter, by all means!

Vote Cyan Garamonde!

 

[DeeDoubleU]

For me... 3 clones = 1 new character.

Its not so much about difference as it is about image. If you have a game thats populated with tons of clones, the game looks cheap and as though its cutting corners. I want SSBB to be something that you look at and immediately see no corners were cut and that the game was made to be exactly as it was intended without cost cutting measures.

As for development time being about the same as Melee, thats not really everything to be considered. The development team for this game is supposedly much larger than Melee's and they are allegedly working with a lot of recycled resources from Melee (granted, its never actually been said its the same engine like I saw somewhere in this topic!). There is really no way of telling at this time whether or not there will have to be such time budgeting done this time.

On the topic of downloadable content:

Memory: Memory isn't really so much of an issue. The Wii has around 2000 blocks free to start with and Mario 64 uses around a hundred. Factor in a 2 gigabyte SD card and you'll have around 15000 blocks to play with. Now, that assumes of course that you could access memory from an SDcard... but sticking with the point...

The memory to make a new character for a fighting game really isn't that much. You have basically four components to the character. You have the model and textures, you have the animations and collision data, you have the script/code, and you have sound. Of these categories, you'd expect the coding to take the least amount of space... maybe a few kilobytes or so. Then you have the model and textures which would weigh in at around a solid megabyte. The animations all together you could expect to take up to 10 more and finally the sound files, if compressed, would probably eat up another 5-15. You really aren't looking at more than 30 megabytes for a single character which would be the equivalent of one of your better sized N64 games, and thats in the worst case scenario.

Price: Now, thats another issue entirely. Personally, I don't mind paying for extra content. However, I draw the line when I see an incomplete game trying to market eastereggs that clearly should have been there to start with selling stuff that just makes the game complete. Likewise, I prefer not to pay for single character additions. However, if Nintendo released additions in mini-expansion packs of say... 5 characters and a couple (Now you really are looking at a good hefty chunk of memory! I'd approximate 100-200 megabytes) stages for 10-20 dollars, I'd certainly go for it.

Whether or not its likely?: Probably not. Nintendo hasn't been too accepting of alternative business models yet and they are just now adapting to internet commerce in general. Now... depending on the success of the shopping channel and particularly original titles and downloadable content for other games, these odds might increase. However, that might or might not be possible simply because of the way Brawl is made in the meantime.