The Oddworld series was one of the best game franchises back in the PlayStation One days, but its star slowly faded when the last console cycle rolled in. Just when we all thought that we may never see the quirky Abe again, a big announcement was made in the most unlikely of places.

In a statement hosted by the Wilfrid Laurier University, Maxis co-founder Jeff Braun revealed that he is currently working with the people over at OddWorld Inhabitants, the studio behind the successful franchise. He confirmed that a new game is under development and he described a powerful new set of tools that could revolutionize game graphics as we know it.

He didn't say much in terms of launch windows or storylines, but he did guarantee that CG movie-quality visuals are now possible on games with the right set of tools recently made available. He said that his team is using that cutting edge gear right now, and efforts are being made to maximize their potentials.

"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," he said. "The tools are finally getting to the level where we can come out with a show and we can come up with a game."

He did remind everyone not to start peeing their pants in anticipation for those things. He said that it could take years for these things to hit the market. Until then, titles like Crysis would still be the stick by which visuals are measured.