Manta 1 - Telemetry Weak
Manta 1 - Telemetry Lost

First, I'll say thank you for bringing a game like Vendetta Online to my attention.

It seems positively interesting, I'm glad to know about its existence, and I have a deep respect for the devs for such longevity in the game market (and the support of so many different OS ... impressive).

Second, a few points about Star Citizen that Vendetta Online doesn't have.

Chris Roberts.
Private Servers.
Top of the line graphics and aimed for the future : Latest Crysys engine + 4k resolution.

To conclude, do not be jealous of Star Citizen and see it as a competitor. See it as a flagship that will dynamize the space sim market and bring lots of new and old players, which will ultimately benefit all actors of this game market.

Have you thought about going to neighbouring Australia for testing purposes ?
They have lots of (air)space and maybe their AA isn't as boneheaded ?

New Caledonia isn't far either and also has an RC community, as well as open spaces.

I agree with your post but would like to correct something.

"Sony is just Sony"

Well, no. Amongst the big three Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, the last one has revised some of its legacy behaviour, learnt its lessons and pulled a 180.
Let's compare the PS3 and the PS4 :

PS3 : asymmetric architecture (power PC + SPE), custom designed processing units (SPE), low amount of video RAM, requires programmers to adapt to its architecture.

PS4 : unified memory model, industry standard CPU, maximum amount of video RAM available (unified memory), includes circuit hardware to alleviate programmer work (uncompress data for example)

I have no love for Sony, but I have to admit I'm favorably impressed by the change in design philosophy of their main console.
They DID change somehow for the new round of console generation.
The long string of quarters in the red probably has something to do with it.

I only noticed the name of the site once I made the post. However, it was the second of two different sources corroborating the event.
A quick search will provide you with confirming results.

Could it be about this refinery ? (just a quick search)
http://www.fluoridealert.org/news/24-hospitalised-after-chemical-leak/

Which is exactly what happened with Xbox LIVE and Xbox 1.

Glad someone finally mentioned this one. (Rescue on Fractalus)

I would add : Ballblazer

Both played on my ATARI 800XL too.
Cheers, fellow !

ATARI 800 could use quad linked disk drives, and also had modems, thank you very much Mr wannabe troll :)
http://oldcomputers.net/atari800.html

How about we avoid doing the same mistake with China this time ?
The military buildup of China is all but neglectable.

I don't know what the kinescope you refer to is, but France had black and white HD (737i) in 1949 and until 1983 :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_high-definition_television_system

My point is, do not belittle accomplishments of the past just because they are from the past.

Minitel usage, apart from a few services and for a a very limited connection time, was on a pay per minute (seconds ?) basis.
A bridge to Minitel would had to include a billing system.

Which reminds me of playing the original Unreal Tournament or Quake III on the DreamCast, with keyboard, mouse, hooked up to a PC monitor and on the LAN/internet with ethernet card add-on.

Some console makers did get it. Others didn't. Sigh.

I can do that.
I can take my copy of Half-life 2 and lend it, resell it, do whatever I want with it.
The hint ?
It's not on the PC.

My X360 copy of Half-life 2 will still work when steam doesn't exist anymore.

When Valve started Steam and announced Half-Life 2 on Steam only, I politely refused. And I still do.
I like to own my games, not rent them.
Choose wisely.

It already happened in 1997 and there was no angry mob.

http://www.arts.or.jp/judge/judge_tokyo/t_17.html

It took a group of retailer to fight the will of game publishers to forbid second sales of video games.
Don't count on the japanese public to rise up and make a fuss ...