We already know that the reason for the extremely high rates are because the RIAA really wants this simply to have DRM used on the streaming stations. That was already proved in recent negotiations over the rates. Since the RIAA's lobbying efforts in having the FCC mandate DRM onto the medium failed, they are now trying to do the same thing by forcing licensing fees that are extremely high on the stations.
Too bad that Capitol Records has plenty of office space, furniture, computers, and don't forget very expensive studio recoding equipment that they own. There is probably $5-10 million in each recording studio worth of assets that can and will be auctioned off if they fail to pay.
Though speculation is that this is a power-saving decision, there has been no official announcement as to the root cause.
I would think that the root cause would be the network stack and packet processing overhead that occurs when the item is networked... but I am just thinking like an engineer here...
I don't mind this becoming a standard if it is truly "standard", which means that in the implementation documentation, EVERYTHING about it is disclosed, with no NDA, or proprietary "features". If that happens, I support OOXML for standardization. I (and many others) would welcome MS disclosing how it will work, as well as how all parts are suppose to work, which means explaining how to make something "work the way Office 97 cell format spacing" works and all other definitions in the standard which state it will the same way something else already works in previous Word and Excel versions. Tell us how to do everything and I will give MS full support for it being a recognized ISO standard.
That's trouble when you're relying on a machine vs. videotaped evidence of impairment.
Even more so when the level considered "impaired" in the state is not actually impairing on the actual person. Impairment should actually be measured results in terms of reaction times. If your reaction times are below a certain level, you are not allowed to drive. Period. End of story. This also means that if your reactions (even when not drinking, or otherwise using substances), are not good enough to meet the level of the test, you are not allowed to drive as well. No more issues about trying to figure out if you should take away licenses from people. No more worry about cell phones, etc., if you can't pass the reaction time test under whatever activity you were engaged in while driving, you a fined...
Sure there is "inedible", take rock the size of a coconut and try to fit that into your mouth, down your throat and into your stomach. Such an object is "inedible". Now just because people use the term in the wrong context doesn't mean the term does not exist in the correct context.
But I think it's fair to blame this on the PS3, because their stupid architecture is the one that deviated from the standard.
But what is this "standard" that you are talking about? In game consoles, there is no such thing. Each console is simply the standard for that particular console, no more, no less.
Again, a mesh network will only be as secure as the individual system on the network. Once a compromise is found, then all computers in the mesh can be compromised if they are all running the same OS or software. Even having the mesh itself run checks on each other and disabling/re-installing on the corrupt systems will only work so long against any real attack or rapid prorogation security breach.
If I was a mod I would mark flamebait. BluRay has more studio's releasing video to it then HD-DVD at this point (only 1... yes, one (1), uno, ichi, une, unus, men, ein... studio is not releasing BluRay films). Everyone else has committed to the format. However there are 4 major studio's that have not committed to releasing video's to HD-DVD.
So take your analogy and reverse it and swap Microsoft for Sony, because it is HD-DVD that has less studio's releasing for it, not Sony.
Yes to an extent. Now that the full BluRay specs are being followed (the gen 1 systems did not have the ability for overlay video which removed a LOT of the interactive content such as interviews/alternate shots/bloopers/etc. from running in a smaller picture in a corner while the movie is played). HD-DVD seems to have a better picture quality right now on the movies that have been release dual format. However, this may be player based and seems to be at this point, as there have been mixed consensus on this over the last month (as that was first dual format release, previous movies were either available on BluRay OR HD-DVD, not BOTH). There also appears to be differences directly related to the encoding itself with the studio's having more expertise with one format or the other (kind of like a bad game port to a different console, yeah it works and is the game, but it just isn't smooth or the graphics are slightly off because some feature they used when they developed it for the original isn't in the new one, etc., etc., etc...)
There is consensus that BluRay is technically more advanced then HD-DVD. But then, so was Betamax more technically advanced then VHS, and we all know that the less technically advanced format won that war.
There is more gold and copper per pound in e-waste then there is in gold or copper ore. There is a LOT of potential to "mine" this for the metals, however the lead and mercury content is also high....
Three quick easy ways for TIVO to Dominate...
on
The Trouble With TiVo
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
There are three easy changes that TIVO can do that would allow them to dominate, let alone survive.
1. Ethernet Network connectivity to allow access to the web as well as network diskspace
2. Allow the users FULL control of the device (i.e. if you hit that 30sec skip button, do the 30 sec skip....)
3. Allow ability to record shows to physical media such as DVD, BluRay, or HDDVD
There you have it. The big three. The first company to release such a device will dominate the market as this is what the consumer wants, not what Hollywood wants. Remember we are a capitalist society, which means the consumer is in charge of what they want, not the corporations (even though the corporations do not want to admit this, their income is directly tied to the consumers purchasing their products).
You have the answer right there. The US market is not competing for the customers. They are more then happy to keep business as usual, and are not pushing the technology, just like their wired relatives. To them, there is no reason to roll out costly network upgrades to support the new technologies, because they control what technologies connect to their networks. This is unlike many other countries where the consumer decides what connects to the networks, the cell phone companies simply provide a SIM card that the user transfers to their different phones. Here the phones are locked down and stripped of their features. Look at Europe where many people own one phone but have several different "local" cell phone plans for the different areas where they frequently travel, they simply swap out the SIM card to use the other networks.
Wow, you are actually looking forward to Assassin's Creed? Everything I heard about the game says that it is not doing too well. Initially I thought, "Holy Crap!", because they had a good idea and concept, but the game itself seems to be lacking from what I have seen lately. Only time will tell, the developers may have pulled off the final hour polish that fixes a lot of issues...
What a load of bull. Just because we started rolling out the technology first doesn't mean a single thing at all as to whether we continue rolling out an "older" technology to areas that do not have ANYTHING in them at all. That decision was made by the same people who are in control of the networks as to if they would spend more to use more up-to-date technology or to use the cheaper more readily available technology. Also do not forget that Japan has not been far behind us from the beginning in terms of rolling out the technology, however, they have been actively ripping out the older stuff and upgrading to the new stuff all the time, unlike our infrastructure which will only "upgrade" when something fails and they realize they can't purchase the same piece of equipment anymore to replace it. Verizon is the only one over here that seems to actually be upgrading their infrastructure, however, they also lock the customer out of any kind of competition for the privilege of using their new service (i.e. they remove the copper land lines to your house, which you will then have to pay to have put back in if you want to switch phone services in the future, even though it costs Verizon time and money to remove the old line, they are using that as a way to deter people from going to a competitor, by making the customer spend upwards of $200-400 in line fees, which is enough to keep the customer from deciding to go to a competitor who would save them an extra $5-$10 a month... and thus allow Verizon to over-charge by that much more because it will cost the customer more to go to another competitor in up-front costs then it would be worth the savings). Again, anti-competitive lock-ins.
The US lags behind because the FCC allows the big industry to do what they want. Heck, we are almost completely back to AT&T and ONLY AT&T in terms of telephone service. The 1982 split that was a part of a lawsuit settlement from the government against AT&T was what allowed AT&T to get into the internet business in the first place. AT&T agreed to split into 7 new companies (plus AT&T), and would be allowed to start developing data network services which is what led to access to the internet for normal businesses and then people at their homes. SBC was formed from Ameritech, Southwest Bell, and Pacific Telesis. SBC then aquirred AT&T itself and BellSouth, and renamed themselves back to AT&T (as that had the more important name, since it had been around since 1883 and was the ORIGINAL telephone company of all telephone companies). So of the 8 companies that AT&T was split into, 5 of them have been merged back together. The other 3 are now down to just two, Verizon and QWest. So in the landmark 1982 settlement that allowed the phone company (AT&T) to get into the internet service business, they are now just three. The Supreme Court settled with AT&T with the stipulation that it was going to be 8 companies that controlled the infrastructure. There was a reason for that because there would be enough companies out there that it would be difficult for them to all collude together and over-charge the customers, because someone would always say, "We can make more net money by cutting our profit margin down lower then the other companies and taking a large portion of their customers". Whereas now, with only three companies, it is easy for them to say, "We can make a LOT more money by steadily increasing the fees and rates we charge, so long as the other two guys see what we are doing and do the same thing, because it will only benefit them as much as it benefits us".
Don't forget that the vast majority of PC sales occur during the Back to School sales as well as the Holiday season sales. Since Vista missed the 2006 Holiday season, the first real sales boom in PC's will be this August-September time frame.
I and my group have experienced this at work all the time almost whenever a new person is hired into the network team. Cisco gear do NOT play nice with Sun Microsystems, be it their desktop workstations or their servers. The Cisco gear refuses to properly auto-negotiate with the equipemnt causing issues such as duplex/simplex mis-matches (i.e. the workstation thinks it is connected at 100 Full duplex, while the switch thinks it is connected at 10 Half duplex). Needless to say this causes all kinds of collisions, IErrors, OErrors, etc., on the system and the network. All the Sun gear must have their associate network partner's port forced to 100 Full, and we do the same for the system as well. How do I know the problem is with the Cisco gear? Because the workstation/server works fine if you use a HP, Xylan, Baynetworks, or other switch. The net network engineers immediately believe it is the Sun equipment because they have been brainwashed into believing that Cisco can't make a mistake or a poor product. It usually takes us to demonstrate using 2 or more other switches that the problem only happens on the Cisco. Cisco still denies that there is a problem as well.
Oh and if you don't believe me, do a google "Cisco problems with Sun"...
Space, weight, and environmental limitations make this impractical. Before this mission, we bairly understood the make-up of the dust and how much there may be, let alone being able to create a turbine shaft with seals to keep the dust out of the mechanism (to keep it from causing the prop from binding). The space limitations are another issue. It is not easy to package up a turbo prop into a smaller form-factor for initial launch and travel, unlike the ability to fold up a solar array. At best, what this teaches us is to include a "wiper" system for at least part of the panels so that we can maintain at least a minimal section of solar panel to generate energy for the essential gear and would give us the ability to keep the rover alive long enough to let the wind that exists on the plant to "clean" the other panels in the time after a storm.
"Do you think there is a specific reason the PS3 isn't selling as well as the PlayStation 2 did, or is the market just a different place than it was 7 years ago?"
Ummm... PRICE? In 2000, the PS2 released with a price of 39,800 Yen (with an exchange rate of 106.31 Yen to US Dollar), which made it ~$375 US. The 60GB PS3 (the only one with full functionality) launched at a price of 62,800 Yen. So not quite double the launch price, but that is pretty high.
Well, if it has SACD support, dual discrete 12bit (or more) video D/A converters, 24bit/192kHz audio D/A converters, hardware video upscaling to 1080i, DVI-D and HDMI outputs well, I "might" consider it. However, it will need to be one hell of a good audio transport as well, which almost no DVD players are. Mine can go into a audio direct mode, which does not even turn on the video processing, video outputs or front panel display outputs on the unit (all things that can generate extra electronic noise in the system) so that it can get a cleaner audio output.
And that is the reason why you need to explain to the upper management what happens when the next patch that is installed automatically which happens to break the backup system for a few weeks and then the following patch corrupts the main work database, which doesn't have a backup because no staff was available to check what happens when you have those updates installed. Now you not only have to re-install, but you don't have a recent backup, and have lost several weeks of work which now has to be explained to the share holders that there was no backup because the current CIO cut the budget to save an extra $100,000 and give himself a bonus of said cash savings.
Problems like this happen all the time. This is why companies usually have a vetting process for any updates that are released and why no person should download an update for a week or more for these issues to be brought up and found/fixed. I keep automatic updates turned off ever since an update for Win2k corrupted my installation and forced a full re-install.
That is all you need to know. Think of how many billions they have made on that simple fact. It isn't like it costs $8 to print 10-20 cards. You are seeing pure profit in the card game. Not to mention the millions in TV franchise rights, movie revenues, and finally video game sales (which also happen to require requisite video game consoles which also sell at a profit unlike competitors). It has been a cash printing machine for the last 10+ years. It makes more money at less risk then any music business can.
You also forget that Nintendo owns a LOT of different IP which they license to many other entities. Their entire business model is based such that even if console tanks, they have enough cash to continue onwards. They keep their development costs low as well as their production costs and make sure they always are making a profit on each and everything they sell so they do not have to rely on future revenue from game sales to make a profit. They have had several systems which have flat out tanked in the past, but have always been able to continue through the market ups and downs (unlike some competitors, Atari, Activision, NeoGeo, SEGA... who couldn't last a single bad console release).
I was going to wait as well for Metal Gear. However, I might pick one up. I have a 46" 1080p Sharp that would love to have BluRay to watch on.
As for the Wii and new games, I would love to see more games on the Wii, being that I have had one since release day (was up in line at 5:45am). My only concern is that the games will be horrible ports from other systems. The uniqueness of the Wii controllers is not something that makes it easy to slap on any old game that was designed for something else. You need to have really thought out what you can do with the controls and have that in mind when making the interface. I dread the thought of simply swinging the wii numchuk around in circles to make my character get up after falling down or some other non-intuitive, tedious motion to make something happen. For many actions in a game and button is just a better idea. However, there will be places and times to use the movements and sensitivity of the Wii controllers have to offer. Things that are intuitive, like using it to control a swords movements or turn a door nob, or grasp an item (yes, you can do this very will with the combination of the buttons on top and bottom of the remote, plus force feedback, this is very possible). But don't have me randomly shaking the remotes just to do something like push back someone who has grappled me in "Call of Duty", or shake the numchuk to change weapons, etc., etc... Use your brain here and use motions where they make sense, not just to add motions to your interface. You shouldn't have to read the instruction manual to figure out that you have to shake the numchuk up and down to make the character use a grenade, it should just be intuitive...
Slashdot Mirror
We already know that the reason for the extremely high rates are because the RIAA really wants this simply to have DRM used on the streaming stations. That was already proved in recent negotiations over the rates. Since the RIAA's lobbying efforts in having the FCC mandate DRM onto the medium failed, they are now trying to do the same thing by forcing licensing fees that are extremely high on the stations.
Too bad that Capitol Records has plenty of office space, furniture, computers, and don't forget very expensive studio recoding equipment that they own. There is probably $5-10 million in each recording studio worth of assets that can and will be auctioned off if they fail to pay.
Though speculation is that this is a power-saving decision, there has been no official announcement as to the root cause.
I would think that the root cause would be the network stack and packet processing overhead that occurs when the item is networked... but I am just thinking like an engineer here...
I don't mind this becoming a standard if it is truly "standard", which means that in the implementation documentation, EVERYTHING about it is disclosed, with no NDA, or proprietary "features". If that happens, I support OOXML for standardization. I (and many others) would welcome MS disclosing how it will work, as well as how all parts are suppose to work, which means explaining how to make something "work the way Office 97 cell format spacing" works and all other definitions in the standard which state it will the same way something else already works in previous Word and Excel versions. Tell us how to do everything and I will give MS full support for it being a recognized ISO standard.
That's trouble when you're relying on a machine vs. videotaped evidence of impairment.
Even more so when the level considered "impaired" in the state is not actually impairing on the actual person. Impairment should actually be measured results in terms of reaction times. If your reaction times are below a certain level, you are not allowed to drive. Period. End of story. This also means that if your reactions (even when not drinking, or otherwise using substances), are not good enough to meet the level of the test, you are not allowed to drive as well. No more issues about trying to figure out if you should take away licenses from people. No more worry about cell phones, etc., if you can't pass the reaction time test under whatever activity you were engaged in while driving, you a fined...
Sure there is "inedible", take rock the size of a coconut and try to fit that into your mouth, down your throat and into your stomach. Such an object is "inedible". Now just because people use the term in the wrong context doesn't mean the term does not exist in the correct context.
But I think it's fair to blame this on the PS3, because their stupid architecture is the one that deviated from the standard.
But what is this "standard" that you are talking about? In game consoles, there is no such thing. Each console is simply the standard for that particular console, no more, no less.
Again, a mesh network will only be as secure as the individual system on the network. Once a compromise is found, then all computers in the mesh can be compromised if they are all running the same OS or software. Even having the mesh itself run checks on each other and disabling/re-installing on the corrupt systems will only work so long against any real attack or rapid prorogation security breach.
...'THEY' will be soon forgotten...
If I was a mod I would mark flamebait. BluRay has more studio's releasing video to it then HD-DVD at this point (only 1... yes, one (1), uno, ichi, une, unus, men, ein... studio is not releasing BluRay films). Everyone else has committed to the format. However there are 4 major studio's that have not committed to releasing video's to HD-DVD.
So take your analogy and reverse it and swap Microsoft for Sony, because it is HD-DVD that has less studio's releasing for it, not Sony.
Yes to an extent. Now that the full BluRay specs are being followed (the gen 1 systems did not have the ability for overlay video which removed a LOT of the interactive content such as interviews/alternate shots/bloopers/etc. from running in a smaller picture in a corner while the movie is played). HD-DVD seems to have a better picture quality right now on the movies that have been release dual format. However, this may be player based and seems to be at this point, as there have been mixed consensus on this over the last month (as that was first dual format release, previous movies were either available on BluRay OR HD-DVD, not BOTH). There also appears to be differences directly related to the encoding itself with the studio's having more expertise with one format or the other (kind of like a bad game port to a different console, yeah it works and is the game, but it just isn't smooth or the graphics are slightly off because some feature they used when they developed it for the original isn't in the new one, etc., etc., etc...)
There is consensus that BluRay is technically more advanced then HD-DVD. But then, so was Betamax more technically advanced then VHS, and we all know that the less technically advanced format won that war.
There is more gold and copper per pound in e-waste then there is in gold or copper ore. There is a LOT of potential to "mine" this for the metals, however the lead and mercury content is also high....
There are three easy changes that TIVO can do that would allow them to dominate, let alone survive.
1. Ethernet Network connectivity to allow access to the web as well as network diskspace
2. Allow the users FULL control of the device (i.e. if you hit that 30sec skip button, do the 30 sec skip....)
3. Allow ability to record shows to physical media such as DVD, BluRay, or HDDVD
There you have it. The big three. The first company to release such a device will dominate the market as this is what the consumer wants, not what Hollywood wants. Remember we are a capitalist society, which means the consumer is in charge of what they want, not the corporations (even though the corporations do not want to admit this, their income is directly tied to the consumers purchasing their products).
You have the answer right there. The US market is not competing for the customers. They are more then happy to keep business as usual, and are not pushing the technology, just like their wired relatives. To them, there is no reason to roll out costly network upgrades to support the new technologies, because they control what technologies connect to their networks. This is unlike many other countries where the consumer decides what connects to the networks, the cell phone companies simply provide a SIM card that the user transfers to their different phones. Here the phones are locked down and stripped of their features. Look at Europe where many people own one phone but have several different "local" cell phone plans for the different areas where they frequently travel, they simply swap out the SIM card to use the other networks.
Wow, you are actually looking forward to Assassin's Creed? Everything I heard about the game says that it is not doing too well. Initially I thought, "Holy Crap!", because they had a good idea and concept, but the game itself seems to be lacking from what I have seen lately. Only time will tell, the developers may have pulled off the final hour polish that fixes a lot of issues...
What a load of bull. Just because we started rolling out the technology first doesn't mean a single thing at all as to whether we continue rolling out an "older" technology to areas that do not have ANYTHING in them at all. That decision was made by the same people who are in control of the networks as to if they would spend more to use more up-to-date technology or to use the cheaper more readily available technology. Also do not forget that Japan has not been far behind us from the beginning in terms of rolling out the technology, however, they have been actively ripping out the older stuff and upgrading to the new stuff all the time, unlike our infrastructure which will only "upgrade" when something fails and they realize they can't purchase the same piece of equipment anymore to replace it. Verizon is the only one over here that seems to actually be upgrading their infrastructure, however, they also lock the customer out of any kind of competition for the privilege of using their new service (i.e. they remove the copper land lines to your house, which you will then have to pay to have put back in if you want to switch phone services in the future, even though it costs Verizon time and money to remove the old line, they are using that as a way to deter people from going to a competitor, by making the customer spend upwards of $200-400 in line fees, which is enough to keep the customer from deciding to go to a competitor who would save them an extra $5-$10 a month... and thus allow Verizon to over-charge by that much more because it will cost the customer more to go to another competitor in up-front costs then it would be worth the savings). Again, anti-competitive lock-ins.
The US lags behind because the FCC allows the big industry to do what they want. Heck, we are almost completely back to AT&T and ONLY AT&T in terms of telephone service. The 1982 split that was a part of a lawsuit settlement from the government against AT&T was what allowed AT&T to get into the internet business in the first place. AT&T agreed to split into 7 new companies (plus AT&T), and would be allowed to start developing data network services which is what led to access to the internet for normal businesses and then people at their homes. SBC was formed from Ameritech, Southwest Bell, and Pacific Telesis. SBC then aquirred AT&T itself and BellSouth, and renamed themselves back to AT&T (as that had the more important name, since it had been around since 1883 and was the ORIGINAL telephone company of all telephone companies). So of the 8 companies that AT&T was split into, 5 of them have been merged back together. The other 3 are now down to just two, Verizon and QWest. So in the landmark 1982 settlement that allowed the phone company (AT&T) to get into the internet service business, they are now just three. The Supreme Court settled with AT&T with the stipulation that it was going to be 8 companies that controlled the infrastructure. There was a reason for that because there would be enough companies out there that it would be difficult for them to all collude together and over-charge the customers, because someone would always say, "We can make more net money by cutting our profit margin down lower then the other companies and taking a large portion of their customers". Whereas now, with only three companies, it is easy for them to say, "We can make a LOT more money by steadily increasing the fees and rates we charge, so long as the other two guys see what we are doing and do the same thing, because it will only benefit them as much as it benefits us".
Don't forget that the vast majority of PC sales occur during the Back to School sales as well as the Holiday season sales. Since Vista missed the 2006 Holiday season, the first real sales boom in PC's will be this August-September time frame.
I and my group have experienced this at work all the time almost whenever a new person is hired into the network team. Cisco gear do NOT play nice with Sun Microsystems, be it their desktop workstations or their servers. The Cisco gear refuses to properly auto-negotiate with the equipemnt causing issues such as duplex/simplex mis-matches (i.e. the workstation thinks it is connected at 100 Full duplex, while the switch thinks it is connected at 10 Half duplex). Needless to say this causes all kinds of collisions, IErrors, OErrors, etc., on the system and the network. All the Sun gear must have their associate network partner's port forced to 100 Full, and we do the same for the system as well. How do I know the problem is with the Cisco gear? Because the workstation/server works fine if you use a HP, Xylan, Baynetworks, or other switch. The net network engineers immediately believe it is the Sun equipment because they have been brainwashed into believing that Cisco can't make a mistake or a poor product. It usually takes us to demonstrate using 2 or more other switches that the problem only happens on the Cisco. Cisco still denies that there is a problem as well.
Oh and if you don't believe me, do a google "Cisco problems with Sun"...
Space, weight, and environmental limitations make this impractical. Before this mission, we bairly understood the make-up of the dust and how much there may be, let alone being able to create a turbine shaft with seals to keep the dust out of the mechanism (to keep it from causing the prop from binding). The space limitations are another issue. It is not easy to package up a turbo prop into a smaller form-factor for initial launch and travel, unlike the ability to fold up a solar array. At best, what this teaches us is to include a "wiper" system for at least part of the panels so that we can maintain at least a minimal section of solar panel to generate energy for the essential gear and would give us the ability to keep the rover alive long enough to let the wind that exists on the plant to "clean" the other panels in the time after a storm.
"Do you think there is a specific reason the PS3 isn't selling as well as the PlayStation 2 did, or is the market just a different place than it was 7 years ago?"
Ummm... PRICE? In 2000, the PS2 released with a price of 39,800 Yen (with an exchange rate of 106.31 Yen to US Dollar), which made it ~$375 US. The 60GB PS3 (the only one with full functionality) launched at a price of 62,800 Yen. So not quite double the launch price, but that is pretty high.
Well, if it has SACD support, dual discrete 12bit (or more) video D/A converters, 24bit/192kHz audio D/A converters, hardware video upscaling to 1080i, DVI-D and HDMI outputs well, I "might" consider it. However, it will need to be one hell of a good audio transport as well, which almost no DVD players are. Mine can go into a audio direct mode, which does not even turn on the video processing, video outputs or front panel display outputs on the unit (all things that can generate extra electronic noise in the system) so that it can get a cleaner audio output.
And that is the reason why you need to explain to the upper management what happens when the next patch that is installed automatically which happens to break the backup system for a few weeks and then the following patch corrupts the main work database, which doesn't have a backup because no staff was available to check what happens when you have those updates installed. Now you not only have to re-install, but you don't have a recent backup, and have lost several weeks of work which now has to be explained to the share holders that there was no backup because the current CIO cut the budget to save an extra $100,000 and give himself a bonus of said cash savings.
Problems like this happen all the time. This is why companies usually have a vetting process for any updates that are released and why no person should download an update for a week or more for these issues to be brought up and found/fixed. I keep automatic updates turned off ever since an update for Win2k corrupted my installation and forced a full re-install.
That is all you need to know. Think of how many billions they have made on that simple fact. It isn't like it costs $8 to print 10-20 cards. You are seeing pure profit in the card game. Not to mention the millions in TV franchise rights, movie revenues, and finally video game sales (which also happen to require requisite video game consoles which also sell at a profit unlike competitors). It has been a cash printing machine for the last 10+ years. It makes more money at less risk then any music business can.
You also forget that Nintendo owns a LOT of different IP which they license to many other entities. Their entire business model is based such that even if console tanks, they have enough cash to continue onwards. They keep their development costs low as well as their production costs and make sure they always are making a profit on each and everything they sell so they do not have to rely on future revenue from game sales to make a profit. They have had several systems which have flat out tanked in the past, but have always been able to continue through the market ups and downs (unlike some competitors, Atari, Activision, NeoGeo, SEGA... who couldn't last a single bad console release).
I was going to wait as well for Metal Gear. However, I might pick one up. I have a 46" 1080p Sharp that would love to have BluRay to watch on.
As for the Wii and new games, I would love to see more games on the Wii, being that I have had one since release day (was up in line at 5:45am). My only concern is that the games will be horrible ports from other systems. The uniqueness of the Wii controllers is not something that makes it easy to slap on any old game that was designed for something else. You need to have really thought out what you can do with the controls and have that in mind when making the interface. I dread the thought of simply swinging the wii numchuk around in circles to make my character get up after falling down or some other non-intuitive, tedious motion to make something happen. For many actions in a game and button is just a better idea. However, there will be places and times to use the movements and sensitivity of the Wii controllers have to offer. Things that are intuitive, like using it to control a swords movements or turn a door nob, or grasp an item (yes, you can do this very will with the combination of the buttons on top and bottom of the remote, plus force feedback, this is very possible). But don't have me randomly shaking the remotes just to do something like push back someone who has grappled me in "Call of Duty", or shake the numchuk to change weapons, etc., etc... Use your brain here and use motions where they make sense, not just to add motions to your interface. You shouldn't have to read the instruction manual to figure out that you have to shake the numchuk up and down to make the character use a grenade, it should just be intuitive...