Yes, I heard about Kojima 'begging' to have Snake put in.
I'm not saying that it's going to happen, I simply think we have a better chance than any other Smash Bros. games, to have 3rd party characters in it.
Personally, I believe if enough people suggest Geno, Nintendo will ask Square about, and I really don't think Square would object to it. The poor guy's been out of work for so long, he hasn't done anything outside of a cameo in ages. And come on, Square is making Mario Baskeball for heaven's sake, I think if Geno didn't make it to Brawl, he'd have another chance of being a super-secret character in Mario Basketball.