Remember Sony VAIO laptops and tablets? While Sony may have discontinued the brand as part of its exit from the PC market some time ago, the VAIO brand itself lives on. Tonight, VAIO will officially launch as its own independent computer manufacturer – or “small” PC maker company, as their Japanese blurb describes them – with a launch event in Tokyo. Teasing its relaunch online, the company says that it’s free and that things are going to change, with its new-found small-scale status being one of the catalysts.

That small-scale thinking extends to its current production line. While the new VAIO eventually aims for international success and brand recognition like it once somewhat had under the arms of Sony, a spokesperson said that it’s focusing on success in Japan first, with no plans to launch laptops outside its homeland.

What laptops, though?

Well, if you’ve been following VAIO right up until Sony ditching them, you might find its debut range a little familiar. The two debut models, also launching today in Japan, are identical to the Pro and Fit models its parent company launched almost exactly one year ago – minus Sony branding, of course. To the new CEO’s credit, Takayuki Sekitori admitted that the two initial models were very well received — and that was part of the point. The company is focusing on establishing a foothold first in its new independent status; but all new PCs will hopefully be making it out of the doors in the near future.

VAIO claim that the new company has a clear focus, and its future work will be based around that focus while also presenting consumers with choice. To that end, the the company plans only to make PCs going forward; and it vows that all the new PCs it will make going forward will show an attention to detail and the VAIO DNA we’ve all grown accustomed to. We at Sanitarium.FM wish the company all success for the future.

Special announcement from Legendary and Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro hit Youtube yesterday!

Check it out below:

As del Toro revealed in the special YouTube video, he’s officially making a sequel to Pacific Rim with Travis Beacham (who wrote the original’s screenplay) and Zak Penn (who is rewriting the Ready Player One adaptation). The film will be distributed in the United States by Universal, and it’s set for release on April 7, 2017.

In case anyone is worried that del Toro will get too clever and try to do something new with it, he assures everyone that it will feature “more Kaijus, more Jaegers, kicking each other’s butts.” And, just in case you inexplicably want more than that, he also told Buzzfeed that a bunch of characters would return, including “Raleigh, Mako, Newt, Gottlieb and who knows, maybe even Hannibal Chau.” For people who don’t remember anything about Pacific Rim except the punching, Raleigh is Charlie Hunnam’s character, Mako is Rinko Kikuchi, Hannibal Chau is Ron Perlman, and the rest are people that we don’t remember either. How about that punching, though? Pretty sweet, right?

Del Toro also announced that he’s going to continue the Pacific Rim comic book and that he’s working on an animated series of some sort that will premiere before the movie, most likely to lay all of the necessary groundwork required to justify why more giant robots are fighting more giant monsters. We’re thinking it will involve a quick voiceover of someone saying “The Kaiju came back, so we’re gonna beat them up,” and then it will end.

Fire up your Jaegars pilots! We’re going back to monster bashing!

Focus Interactive dropped a new Space Hulk: Deathwing trailer!
The First-Person Shooter set in the famous universe of Warhammer 40,000 from Games Workshop, can now reveal its summer trailer!

Still not showing gameplay footage, but damn, the CGI looks cool.  Check it out below:

This first in-game video, created using the game engine (Unreal Engine 4), plunges you headlong into a Space Hulk, with the game’s main character – a Librarian of the Deathwing,and a squad of Deathwing Terminators, in their a head-on confrontation with the merciless Genestealers. A clash that will prove deadly for the elite warriors of the Dark Angels and the outcome of which has a HUGE surprise in store.

 

This explosive video showcases the amazing work and meticulous attention to detail by developers Streum On studio. Theelite squad of the Space Marines repels the attacks of the Genestealers with heavy fire from their Storm Bolters and Assault Cannons, destroying the most reckless creatures with crushing blows from Force Swords and Power Fists. You can see the incredible level of detail on the smallest game elements: the Tactical Dreadnought Armour of the Deathwing Terminators, their weapons, the Genestealers, and the backdrop are all rendered with a care that will astound any fan of Warhammer 40,000!

Looking forward to this game, lets hope we get some gameplay footage soon!

Destiny’s closed beta will land on Xbox One and Xbox 360 in “late July”, a trailer for the game has confirmed.

The date suggests that the beta will arrive on Xbox platforms 1-2 weeks after it hits PS3 and PS4 on July 17.  To access the beta you’ll need to pre-order the game and register the code supplied by participating retailers.

Destiny releases on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4 and PS3 on September 9 alongside a fancy new white PS4.

Behaviour Interactive posted up a ton of marketing/gameplay videos today, plus a HUGE FAQ for the game and Founders packs…

Lets start with the videos:

Now, onto the FAQ and recommended requirements are:

CPU: INTEL Core i5-750 / AMD Phenom II X6 1045T
GPU: NVidia GTX 660+ or similar video card
Memory: 8 GB DDR3
Hard Drive: 50GB Free Disc Space
OS: 64-bit Operating Systems (Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, SteamOS, MacOS X 10.9)

 

NOTE: This is just a predicted hardware setup. Details can change slightly over time as the game is still under development. More details to come.

Now, did everyone else notice that? 8Gb RAM?!? What game needs 8 bloody gigs of RAM?!?

You can see the rest of the FAQ here

and relax…

So yeah, the founders packs and initial store items…

Founder packs come in three varieties: Warrior, Sergeant or Captain. All of them come with a game key and four character slots ($40 value) as well as Founder program exclusives including Rogue Trader Points (RTP), Pre-Launch Game Access, Early Game Module Access, etc. And you can see them all here

Umm… Lets look at the top most Space marine pack:

Captain Pack

 

A Game key and 4 character slots ($40 value) with Captain Founder program exclusives including:

120,000 + 25% Bonus RTP to Spend in the Rogue Trader for a total of 150,000 points
Pre-Launch Game Access – First come, first serve!
Early Game Module Access – Initial Access – First Wave
Limited Edition Banner
Arkhona Vanguard Title
Exclusive Founder Lounge Access in Forum
Reserve Character Name
Reserve Guild Name

 

NOTE: For now, Founder packs will only be for PC versions of the game.

 

 

Now this is £70.80 or $120.00

Yes Captain pack owners start in the first of the three phases of Early Access roll out, but what else?
Well honestly, not much that I (or Digmbot) can see looking at the webpage

Now I admit, we’re AT LEAST a year away from release, but am I tempted to buy a founders pack?

Yes, but not the main factions, instead, I’ll be buying the £5.00 Ork founders pack instead

You can see all the founders pack options here

So, I’m still really interested in the game, I’ve been following Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade for ages now and what Behaviour Interactive has shown so far is looking promising, but the pricing is a worry