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Here's how a utility can make more by selling less. Instead of spending $2 billion on a new 1,000-megawatt power plant, say, the utility decides to spend $2 billion or less insulating homes, paying customers to install more efficient equipment, and making the grid smarter. Taking those steps would slash power consumption by more than 1,000 Mw, eliminating the need to build the power plant and cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the same time

$2 billion investment

Even though the price of electricity will be higher, customers who comply will be using much less power (and those who don't will effectively subsidize those who do)

The new model isn't a sure thing

What can we do that really nobody else can?

It's the query that sparked the DSi's dual/touchscreen action, the Balance Board's super-accurate weight and mass measurements, and the Wii's revolutionary motion-sensing gameplay

Nintendo has sold 4.02 million Wiis this year, compared with Micosoft's (MSFT) 2.39 million Xbox 360s and 1.94 million Sony (SNE) PlayStation 3s, according to market trackers NPD Group

Miyamoto says their mimicry shows that Nintendo was right to gamble with the Wii. But he worries that a sameness will turn off gamers. "I don't necessarily think all the companies should move in the same direction," he says. "I would like to see each individual company take advantage of its own uniqueness and specialties."

For Miyamoto, that means coming up with a sequel to the Wii. Or does it? Updates such as the Wii MotionPlus accessory and Wii Fit Plus are proof that "there are still a lot of different opportunities and possibilities that haven't been exhausted yet on that console," he says. And it's clear he works by his own schedule. Miyamoto is notorious for scrapping or rebooting projects he thinks aren't up to snuff. Even the new Mario Bros. game ran late, nearly missing the upcoming holiday season because, as Miyamoto admits, "I got deeply involved rearranging elements and polishing it." Although Nintendo investors may want a blockbuster, you can bet the company won't be introducing any new products until Miyamoto says so.

While many Western countries experienced negative growth last year, China registered a jaw-dropping 8.7 per cent increase. Though much of it was achieved by a generous stimulus package, it maintained jobs and, in the end, helped fuel feelings of superiority.

Economic power is inexorably shifting away from the U.S. and towards China, he says, and coming with it is power and influence. "China is stronger now. It's more influential," says Yao. "And the Chinese banking sector looks better than the Western banking system."

"Saving face matters to the Chinese," he says. "But if you slap the Chinese face once, twice, three times, four times – that's too much." That language underlines the stark differences in the two nations' perception of issues such as Taiwan, Tibet and the Dalai Lama.

"China has risen to a different place. ... It's clearly an unsettling stage in U.S.-China relations, a new paradigm. No one is really sure how it's going to shake out."