4. Is that it for the third party characters?
There's nothing like a steady stream of character announcements to keep a game relevant with both media and fans. Seeing as Super Smash Bros. is still a long way off, it's safe to assume Nintendo has a new character or three hidden away to reveal between now and release.
A more uncertain question is whether or not any of these characters will be from a third party franchise. The third party possibilities look endless now that Super Smash Bros. is being developed in-part by Namco Bandai, a company in charge of a plethora of iconic gaming series. However, Sakurai has said that Namco Bandai characters probably won't make it into Super Smash Bros. Still, Nintendo seems to have played its third party cards early: Mega Man was announced the same time the game was, and Sonic's second Smash Bros. appearance has already been let out of the bag. As third party characters are the most exciting new challengers, you'd think Nintendo would save at least one to make a splash leading up to release—possibly at E3.
