I still have my fingers crossed for a Resident Evil character.

And I think Bomberman would be badass.

Online play and Sonic are in the game.  I can breathe a sigh of relief.  Any surprises beyond this point will be what I call "gravy".

That's a little pessimistic no?

Not at all. I believe that there was mention some time ago that as far as third party franchises go, the absolute maximum we would hope to see is three. Sonic was the character that people were really pushing to include, and was the most requested. With the announcement at the press conference and considering the game is so late in development, there's really no way we would see somebody new. If there is another third party character, we have a little more than a month to see it as December likely won't see any huge surprises considering plans for the original release date.

I'm curious, does anyone know who was next on the reader poll for requested characters?  Mega Man?  Who after that?

In reality everybody knew Sonic would be in the game though, it was just a matter of when. Now thanks to Sonic now there are virtually no chances of any other third party characters appearing.

The dude at SRK who was told there would be a Nintendo conference in and playable demo for October said the person he talked to told him there would be three third party characters. There's still hope for another one.

With the announcement at the press conference and considering the game is so late in development, there's really no way we would see somebody new.

The characters are pretty much done already, as is the game itself. All they really have to do is fix up a few minor details and they'll be set. The fact that it's close to launch doesn't mean there won't be a new character. It just means they haven't revealed him yet. Sakurai also said there would be things he wouldn't add to the Dojo because he wanted players to discover them while playing. There's a good chance for another third party. The only problem is figuring out who.

On a side note, there are 18 different game series included in Brawl (we know this by the number of icons there are). Icons 13 and 19 are missing, which means there are at least two more series from which there will be characters. Go to: http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/images/icon/world_b_18.gif and replace the 18 with a number from 1-20. You'll see what I mean. Sonic being announced filled in the 20 spot.

On a side note, there are 18 different game series included in Brawl (we know this by the number of icons there are). Icons 13 and 19 are missing, which means there are at least two more series from which there will be characters. Go to: http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/images/icon/world_b_18.gif and replace the 18 with a number from 1-20. You'll see what I mean. Sonic being announced filled in the 20 spot.

You are awesome for figuring this out.

This one is for F-Zero. It is in the Samurai Goroh assist trophy update.
http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/images/icon/world_b_05.gif 

And here is animal crossing
http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/images/icon/world_b_15.gif

If Mr. Game and Watch is returning.  One of the missing two could be his.

As for the last one, there isn't another possible veteran fighter who would need a new series symbol.  So that means there must be yet another series.

EDIT: 
To summarize, you can expect:

Captain Falcon
An animal crossing character
Maybe game and watch
Another new fighter not from a new series.

The internet exploded..

I lost my right hand in the accident. Sucks.

This update makes me sad.  The only way I'll be okay with Sonic being in the game is if Megaman is in too.  Otherwise I maintain Megaman's spot was stolen by that blue piece of shit.

I agree, but Sonic has a little more momentum than Snake. I expect some kind of video at an E3 or something. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Sonic baddies turn out to be a part of the adventure plot, as I wouldn't be surprised if Dede or K. Rool were. That being said, some of the baddies do suspiciously look like MM/Sonic influenced grunts, but in the same breath the whole Emissary thing reeks with the stench of Heartless.

Just need to say I totally called that.

Also, I think the pushed release date is a good thing. It gives us guys who are only buying a wii for Smash more time to collect the money and find a console in time.

The characters are pretty much done already, as is the game itself. All they really have to do is fix up a few minor details and they'll be set. The fact that it's close to launch doesn't mean there won't be a new character. It just means they haven't revealed him yet. Sakurai also said there would be things he wouldn't add to the Dojo because he wanted players to discover them while playing. There's a good chance for another third party. The only problem is figuring out who.

I already know this. Let me re-iterate what I said above: The game is essentially complete, as are the characters. If there is another third party player, we have maybe a month and a half for it to be revealed. Why? Well, my reasoning is if there is another third party character I don't that Sakurai would wait until after the launch to reveal it. These kind of negotiations between businesses to include characters like this are pretty big. There definitely would be some press on it.

Am I the only one that's kinda "meh" about Sonic?

Yeah, Sonic just doesn't do anything for me. The new gameplay videos were much more exciting than the new character announcement. I'm glad others seem to be enjoying the news though!