Ugh, two hours later and I've gone backwards. -- .mkv trouble

Ok, I downloaded Neon Genesis Evangelion, and I wasn’t able to see untill /after/ it had finished installing all 9 GB that it was a .mkv
What? I say, but, I was sure I could find a codec, in fact, there was even an FAQ on the site I downloaded EVA from!

So, two hours later, it no longer gives me a warning message, but now it dosn’t read.
00:00 playtime, the FAQ suggests downloading an upgraded version of the Matroska Splitter, I do. I install it successfully, and yet. . .
I know there’s probably been a thread like this before, but. . .any ideas?

You should find everything you need at http://www.matroska.org/downloads/windows.html
I personally like Media Player Classic because it’s a tiny file and can play just about anything (avi, mpeg-1 and -2, ogm, matroska, etc.) provided you have the right codec.
If it fails chances are you’re missing the right codec (likely real media codec, but could be another). To find out which codec you need use videoinspector at http://www.kcsoftwares.com/?vtb (don’t use gspot or avicodec - they can’t read matroska (yet)). If it’s the real codec then you might want to get real alternative.

one of developers on the matroska team has more detailed steps in this thread
http://www.moviecodec.com/thread/1373.html
(it’s at the very bottom)