I wouldn't be so sure about the whole allowing them to help thing because that never works out but hey, there's a first for everything, and the reasons we thought earthbound DIDN'T get ported were the wrong ones. I'm hoping for Mother 1 and Mother 3 they just remake them entirely though. Mother 3 has perfect potential as shown from the N64 to what it can do on the 3DS (OoT from N64 to 3DS, just look up Mother 3's N64 version that never released) and Mother 1 is quite honestly (I play a lot of RPG's) a downright... terrible game. It has it's merits, though.
A remake for Earthbound would also be nice but I just don't see it yet. Give it a gen or at least three years.
Also can we make it to 100 before the trailer?
I thought the Masked Man would have been in Brawl after the Lucas announcement. I feel if he was to be included, it would have been then.
I know how you feel. It should have been then, and that goes for other characters like Isaac but...
But I don't think Earthbound deserves 3 reps. Yes, there are several characters that should get into the game such as Ridz but I also think there are many characters more deserving of a spot compared to a 3rd EB character such as Little Mac, Palutena, Isaac, Shulk, Dixie, Saki, etc.
I wouldn't say that on Dixie and I'm not too sure on Saki (Plus there's still Isa) but there are a few characters that are overall easily more deserving than Masked Man.
As long as most series that are plausible to get a +1 rep, I think Earthbound can get away with 3 reps. We've seen other crossovers get away with worse, and they're called out on it just as much as Smash. Besides, asides from a bit too much representation, what could you possibly complain about it? "Wine my favorite character didn't get in"? Not really.