VAINLY ATTEMPTING TO MOVE DISCUSSION TO BRIGHTER AREAS
So, how do you think they'll handle special move customization for some characters, i.e. Megaman and Samus? They both have different weapon types, so I'd imagine the "variations" Sakurai mentioned could take the form of different weapons subbing in for Megaman (i.e. maybe Screw Crusher or another multi-directional weapon subbing in for Metal Blade, or another shield-type power subbing in for Leaf-Shield) and different Beam Types and Missiles and Bombs subbing in for Samus (i.e. maybe a Power Bomb with a bigger radius and knockback than the regular type, but it takes longer to go off and longer to lay another one, and slower but more powerful Ice Missiles subbing for regular and Super Missiles, maybe something similar to Diffusion Missiles from Metroid Fusion).
Speaking of Samus, actually, I did think up a character idea a while back, drawing off of Samus' portrayal in Project M with her ability to switch between the Power Beam moveset and an Ice Beam moveset.
If you've played Metroid Prime, you might recall that there were color-coded Space Pirates in the late-game that appeared to utilize the various beam weapons you gathered throughout the game. Scanning them would reveal that they were using reverse-engineered versions of your beam technology, but a flaw in their design meant that they could be killed using the exact beam type they were using.
I think a neat idea would be to have a Space Pirate character who expanded on the idea of experimental beam usage. Maybe have a B move that allows them to switch between, say, a neutral Power Beam moveset, a slower but more powerful Ice Beam moveset, and a quicker but weaker Plasma or Wave Beam moveset (it can be a tossup between those two honestly). It'd probably only affect some specials and maybe some Smash Attacks or aerials or tilts, much like Samus in Project M, and to illustrate the experimental and volatile nature of the Space Pirates' attempts at reverse-engineering, there could maybe be penalties for switching between beam types too rapidly (but not penalties for not switching at all, that pretty much ruined Pokemon Trainer).