Recently, Sony responded to the economic downturn with a large scale layoff as a cost cutting measure. This past Monday, a leaked PowerPoint document gave signs of potential cost cutting measures that could be employed by Microsoft after releasing their second quarter earnings statements.

In part two of this two part interview we hear from Ben about his his Xbox 360 projects, and what he’s working on going forward. To read about Ben’s modding career and some specifics around his tools of the trade, check out part one of the interview.

Interesting news on the Xbox 360 front. As it turns out, when Microsoft worked with IBM to create the Xbox 360, they had previously gleaned knowledge from working on the Cell processor for Sony’s PS3. So in an essence, R&D money from Sony benefited Microsoft.

As a special treat this new year, I was givin the opportunity to interview Benjamin Heckendorn, A.K.A. Ben Heck, one of the heroes of the modding industry for another site, AcidMods.com. Lucky for us Ben’s Corn Dog only distracted him for a short moment, allowing plenty of time for us to get down to business. In part one of this two part interview we hear from Ben about his modding career and some specifics around his tools of the trade. Part two of the interview will focus on Ben’s Xbox 360 projects, and what he’s working on going forward.