Maxis co-founder Jeff Braun had quite a lot to say at Wilfrid Laurier University yesterday and it wasn't all educational. He claims he is working with Oddworld series creators Oddworld inhabitants in creating the next Oddworld game, a series which has not been seen for many years in the gaming industry. Don't get your hopes up though, he says it might take 3 years to ship or maybe even come in the form of episodic content. He also gives his thoughts on E3, games journalism, and infamous game reviewer, Yahtzee.

Braun announced , for the first time, his involvement with the Oddworld series creators Oddworld Inhabitants (OWI) on their upcoming sequel to the once-popular franchise. "They're such a talented group of people and I really trust their ability to create compelling content," said Braun. But with a slow and measured production schedule subject to Braun's own entrepreneurial business model, it may be "years" before the game is actually shipped.

The next Oddworld game will feature a revolutionary new 3-D animation system allowing videogame players to experience a cinematic quality on a "1 to 1 scale" to that of computer-generated motion pictures. Braun spoke with enthusiasm for how both a videogame and film could have identical graphical quality: "The rendering tools are getting so good now for 3D animation that you can literally create a linear animation and create a video game using the exact same objects... . The tools are finally getting to the level where we can come out with a show and we can come up with a game."

The product's digital assets could be created and then used for both linear films and interactive games. "You're literally on the set," said Braun. With this technology in mind, Braun hinted that the next Oddworld product may be released in episodic content.

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