poke'freak, don't you have anything positive to say? Geez...
The Ice Climbers aren't cheap. They are just as fair as any other character. Ice Climbers become severely hindered if you can separate them. Just because you keep on going if your partner dies doesn't make them cheap. Good luck getting back on the board if you're all by your lonesome... mashing forward B can only get you so far, not to mention you can't even grab the edge unless you've stopped swinging and started the descent, meaning if you're not high above the level (not to mention wide open to any attack your opponent feels like doing), there's no chance to get back on.
They are also fairly light and get knocked out pretty easily.
The fact that they can pick up 2 items at once is a moot point because no one plays competitively with items.
And consider this: How do you know that they will play exactly like they do in Melee? Sakurai has stated that everyone will be getting an upgrade this time around, so save your negative comments until you see Brawl Ice Climbers in action.
Man. In other news, ICE CLIMBERS ARE BACK WOOT!
Could G&W make a return? If there was one obscure video game character worthy of being brought back, I'd choose Ice Climbers over Doc or G&W. Doc's too similar to Mario, and G&W is kinda gimmicky.
This opens up a whole slew of possibilities for obscure video game characters not present in Melee for possible inclusion in Brawl. I'm psyched. Knowing Ice Climbers are now confirmed to be in Brawl, that just makes my day (again).
I wonder what their Final Smash would be like? Would you need to have both characters in order to perform it? Hm...