Maxis Co-founder Jeff Braun Reuniting with Oddworld Inhabitants; Laments E3 Changes

Jeff Braun, co-founder of Maxis, recently spoke at Wilfrid Laurier University yesterday and mentioned something that might make Oddworld fans pretty happy.

Braun stated that he is currently working with the Oddworld series creators Oddworld Inhabitants (OWI) on a new product. While he stated that the project was “years away” from shipping, is also uncertain whether the game will be set within the Oddworld universe, or if it will be a full-on Oddworld sequel. He hinted though that the next installment might be released episodically.

He did go on to say that the new game would graphically be 3-D animation which would contain cinematic quality on a “1 to 1 scale” like computer-generated motion pictures. Speaking about this part of the development plans Braun stated:

“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.”

Towards the end of his speaking engagement, Braun also had an interesting thought on why E3 was having “problems” and blamed it on public invitations:

“Why would they [the public] want to go? These things are just a waste of time. There’s no good that comes out of it, honestly. I think opening it up to the public is what killed it. It became a nightmare. When I heard that [gaming companies were dropping out], I thought ‘it’s about time’. What a waste of funds.”

Braun had many more things to say regarding game blogging being the future of game journalism (woo hoo!), calling Yatzee “brilliant” (can’t argue with him there) and a few other tidbits – which you can read by clicking through the link below.

Via: CordWeekly