Arcania's release date has been pushed to september 2010. Maybe a sign that JoWood learned from their mistakes (you rush a game you get a buggy and incomplete (and as a result unsuccessful) game).

Or that it's going so badly they have to delay to get even a buggy version. ;)

They stated that the delay was for polishing (and I thought the graphics were shiny already).

The videos are quite nice. Surprised at how much like Gothic it feels. Looking forward to it, though I don't think it will be as good as Risen, even if it's solid.

Some of the design decisions directly oppose the Gothic style though, such as not being able to return to previous chapters' regions (as in The Witcher) and seemingly being able to join multiple factions (I fear this will work more like TES than Gothic 2 or 3).
The game has been in development for quite a long time, however--and has been pushed back at least once--so some of the things they previously confirmed may no longer work the way they described.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-abmMRrDv8&annotation_id=annotation_80715&feature=iv
Has combat around 4:30
The only problem with the video is that its in german

Gorn looks goofy. GOOFY.
Combat looks different but good. Getting more of a Divinity 2 vibe than Gothic.

The lock picking minigame is interesting, but... LOCKS DON'T WORK THAT WAY! It's a shame more games don't copy Thief's lock picking system instead of coming up with something stupid like this.
I am pleased to see that the game still has a full 10 hotkey slots (some multi-platform games have only 8 on the PC due to console controller limitations), especially since they have said that 360 controllers are fully supported for this game.
The leaf disappearance is simply ridiculous; having objects pop into view a short distance ahead of the player is an acceptable compromise for games that don't have "Crysis" in the title, but having things vanish when close enough to touch is inexcusable.
The fades in the cave scene are troubling. It's not clear whether that is them simply advancing the video or whether there are actual delays when transitioning between major areas. Gothic 3 and especially Risen had unbelievably massive underground areas in addition to the expansive overworld but had no transitions between the two, so it would be a shame if Spellbound can't meet the same standard (especially since they are using a professional licensed engine whereas Piranha Bytes' are always cobbled together in-house).
The Diablo-style combat camera is horrible. Hopefully there is an option to revert to the standard locked position. It's possible that this was done to make it easier for consoles, but if that's the case it's a weird choice; I can think of any number of popular RPGs on consoles that used a third-person camera like that of Gothic.
Every additional thing I see about this game confirms my feeling that Arcania is intended to launch an entirely new series riding on the fame (in Europe at least) of the Gothic series, possibly to wriggle out of any remaining obligations to Piranha Bytes. They have already done their best to twist the series' lore to meet their own needs.

This isnt Gothic at all.
New developer making this, and it looks more like a Korean grinding MMO then anything representing the good old Gothic...
Shame on the people who like this.

From the videos all I can say with certainty is that it isn't a Gothic game. It could still be a good or bad game purely on its own merits, but it seems that everything that defined Gothic has been stripped out of it. At least PB is still around and continuing to make proper Gothic games, although under a different name.