Larian Studios is off to a rousing start with its Kickstarter for its new Divinity computer role-playing game Divinity: Original Sin. The game, which adds another chapter to the long running series, will be self-published by Larian and is well into its development cycle at this point. The series used to be published by German publisher JoWooD, but that is no longer an option for obvious reasons.

When Diablo 3 lands on the PS3 and PS4 it won't have some of the features or the requirements that its PC counterpart currently has. According to Polygon, a Blizzard official told them at PAX East this weekend that Diablo 3 will not require a constant internet connection in order to play.

Richard Garriott's Kickstarter campaign for Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is within striking distance of being fully funded. The campaign has generated $905,628 of the $1 million in funding it needs, and a new announcement today from his studio Portalarium will likely put it over the required threshold.

While Bethesda Softworks' popular role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been out for over a year on various platforms (PC, Xbox 360, and PS3), the company says that it is far from done with the game and that downloadable content is helping the company keep the RPG relevant to this day and make some money in the process. Speaking to UK publication MCV, Bethesda European MD Sean Brennan is using retailers to help push the game’s DLC (Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn) on Xbox 360.

InXile has managed to raise over $2.1 million dollars in just a few short days for its spiritual sequel to the hit RPG Planescape: Torment. Initially the company was looking to raise $900,000, but that number was surpassed in the first six hours of the crowd funding campaign. Torment: Tides of Numenera is a single-player role-playing game based on designer and writer Monte Cook's new tabletop role-playing game, Numenera. The game will be distributed DRM-free for Windows (PC), Mac, and Linux and will be available in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish.

While Richard Garriott (also known as Lord British in most circles) may no longer hold the rights to the Ultima series of classic CRPG games or Ultima Online (he sold it, along with Origin over a decade ago) that hasn't stopped him from returning to his roots. Today Garriott announced that his Austin-based studio Portalarium is hard at work on his newest game, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues, a sort-of spiritual sequel of sorts to the Ultima series, but set in a whole new universe.

Chris Taylor's and Gas Powered Games' Kickstarter for their MOBA-style action RPG strategy hybrid Wildman is well on its way to raising the $1.1 million it is seeking on the crowd sourcing site from the community. Yesterday after the announcement I posited on Facebook that they would need to raise at least $50,000 a day to be well over their goal in the time remaining (around $1.6 million).

Gas Powered Games founder Chris Taylor today launched the official Kickstarter campaign for his next big game called Wildman. Taylor and GPG are seeking $1.1 million in funding for the development of what he calls an action game that combines some of the best elements of his previous titles including Dungeon Siege, Supreme Commander and Demigod. Taylor is best known for creating the ultra popular real-time strategy game Total Annihilation while at Cavedog Entertainment.

We've seen some interesting Kickstarters looking for funding, but a new Kickstarter that features Tom Hall (Commander Keen, Doom, Rise of the Triad, and Anachronox) and Brenda Brathwaite (Wizardry RPG series) promising an "old school" role-playing game is one that probably deserves your rapt attention. The legendary developers, who will work with John Romero's Loot Drop on this particular project, are seeking $1 million, with a stretch goal of $1.9 million.

Late last week Obsidian Entertainment announced a new RPG project and a Kickstarter campaign to fund its development. In only a few days the new RPG managed to rake in $1.5 million in funding from 37,482 backers with 29 more days to go. They have also passed one stretch goal ($1.4 million) that adds one new playable race, class and companion. Obsidian has a bunch of ideas for further stretch goals on the Kickstarter page.

You may have heard the announcement that "Black Isle Studios is back," but is it really? The Interplay label responsible for such role-playing game hits as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment, and many others may be back but it is in name only and the developers that once wandered its hallowed halls are somewhere else working on such games as the upcoming enhanced edition of Baldur's Gate and a South Park PRG.

Last week it was reported that Square Enix had abandoned development on Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Final Fantasy fans put on sackcloth and ashes. Hands were wrung raw. Prayers were said. Incense were burned to dark gods and souls were offered up to creatures that slither in the underbelly of the universe. It is too bad that those reports weren't completely accurate.

I find this fascinating.  Having just crossed the million dollar mile marker, the Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter was just updated to say that if it reaches $1.5 million, developer Harebrained Schemes will build a special mission exclusive to backers as a thank you.  A thoughtful gesture for sure but the comments show that backers are overwhelmingly against the idea.

Hairbrained Schemes' Kickstarter for a 2-D turn-based RPG for tablet devices and the PC has managed to raise $897,767 of its original goal of $400,000 from 20,895 backers. The company that has worked on such franchises as Shadowrun, Mech Commandeer, Crimson Skies, and MechWarrior, hopes to hit a new milestone of $1 million. They say that if they meet this new funding goal they will add some new content. As of this writing the game, Shadowrun Returns, will be developed for PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux.

Bethesda's Peter Hines revealed on Twitter that same-sex marriage will be allowed in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Hines made the comment after a Twitter follower accused him of being "hush-hush about this aspect of the game. His reply:

"Not hush hush, just not making a huge deal out of it. You can marry anyone." In a subsequent tweet he clarified by adding: " ... not any NPC, [I] just mean any male or female. Doesn't matter what you're playing."

The man, the myth, the legend - Richard Garriott, will deliver the keynote to GDC Europe this year. The creator of the Ultima series and the popular and long-running MMO Ultima Online, will talk about his newfound love for social gaming.

Garriott’s keynote, "The Three Eras of Gaming and Why This One is a Game Changer," will explore the industry’s transformation powered by social and mobile games.

"There are few developers with Richard Garriott’s history, pedigree and vantage point," said GDC Europe president Frank Sliwka.

Indeed. His only real low points were Ultima IX and Tabula Rasa. Last year Garriott founded social game development company Portalarium, to create social games. Recently, the company secured $3.6 million in funding. Garriott plans on creating an "Ultima Online-like social game."

Fallout Online and a number of other lesser titles may not see the light of day if Interplay doesn't get its financial act together. Or at least, that's what a recent SEC filing from the company indicates. A 76-page filing obtained by website Develop paints a grim picture for the company, who says that it has “substantial doubts" over its "ability to continue as a going concern," and has told investors that it has a cash balance below $3000 and a working capital deficit of $3 million.

“The lack of any credit agreement has resulted in a substantial reduction in the cash available to finance our operations,” the company said in a filing.

The upcoming role-playing game Risen has become the latest victim of Australia's flawed game content rating system.

Refused Classification reports that Australia's classification board has declined to assign a rating to the game, which is being developed by Piranha Bytes. The board's action makes Risen the third game of 2009 to be RC'd Down Under; the others are 1C's first-person shooter Necrovision and something called Sexy Poker.

In the U.S. market, Risen has been rated M (17+) by the ESRB. Australia, however, has no rating higher than MA15+, which means that any title judged not suitable for a 15-year-old is effectively banned. Australian gamers have been lobbying their government unsuccessfully for an R18+ rating for several years.

The classification refusal might not be the final word, however. Risen could be edited by its creators enough to slip by Australian censors. This approach has worked for other games, most recently Necrovision.

Risen is scheduled for October release on Xbox 360 and PC. The website R18+ is a useful source for information about the ongoing Australian content rating debate.

Despite taking a bit of a thrashing in the mainstream media, BioWare remains unfazed by the 2008 controversy that Fox News ginned up over the well-known and tenderly played sex scene in best-selling RPG Mass Effect. The noted game developer's upcoming title Dragon Age: Origins is set to feature more of the same.
 
In an interview with CVG, co-founder of BioWare, Greg Zeschuk discusses the inclusion of sexual interactions in video games:

I don't think [games] need to have [sex scenes], I think that in certain types of games it makes sense to have them... That said, I think from our perspective we want to reflect real human relationships... And if that involves some sort of intimate scenes, we want to provide those for the player.
 
It's based on the fact that this is a sophisticated mature experience. The same way that a kid's anime or cartoon will have a different style of content in it than a really serious drama, this is like a serious drama. Really what we're going for in all cases is emotional engagement, some kind of impact.

-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen thinks Microsoft’s Project Natal could make for some interesting sexual interactions in video games...

As noted on the House of Commons website, Conservative MP Edward Vaizey (left) introduced an early day motion last week to recognize BAFTA nominees and winners, including Little Big Planet, Fable II and Race Driver: GRID.

A vocal backer of the UK video game industry, Vaizey also took the opportunity to criticize the Labour Government for not providing what he views as a sufficient level of support to the British game biz:

[Moved:] That this House notes the importance of the video games sector to the UK economy; congratulates the winners and nominees at this year's Bafta Video Games Awards; notes in particular the success of UK developed games, including Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet, Codemasters'  and Lionhead Studios' Fable II, all of which won awards...

 

applauds this recognition of the continued success and significance of video games despite the complete lack of support from Government; regrets the fact that this lack of support from Government has seen the UK fall from being the third largest producer of video games in the world to the fifth largest; and urges the Government to devise a clear and supportive strategy for the UK video games sector as part of the Digital Britain review.

GP: Vaizey's name is popping up on GamePolitics with enough regularity that we've added a tag for him in our category list.

As many gamers know, Gary Gygax (left), the famed creator of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away earlier this year.

By way of honoring the man and his achievement, the folks behind GenCon’s yearly charity auction decided to donate the proceeds to Gygax’s favorite charity, the Christian Children's Fund.  The auction, held at this year's GenCon, raised more than $17,000.
 
Unfortunately, according to a post on Live Game Auctions, the CCF refused the donation when it found out that the money would partially come from the sale of D&D merchandise.  GenCon instead donated the money to the Fisher House Foundation, an organization that enables family members to live nearby their hospitalized loved ones.
 
A curious member of the Giant in the Playground forum e-mailed the CCF about its decision and received the following reply:

Christian Children’s Fund made the decision to decline the gift from GenCon, LLC as the request presented to us gave the appearance that CCF (the organization) was an endorser or supporter of a gaming convention, which CCF was not.

 

As [with] many non-profit organizations, CCF is selective in its endorsements or support in order to maintain the integrity of its name and logo. We cannot lend our name to an event for which we have no involvement. This decision should in no way be interpreted as CCF holding an opinion on Mr. Gygax, gaming enthusiasts or the game Dungeons and Dragons.

GU Comics offers an amusing take on the situation.
 
-Reporting from San Diego, GP Correspondent Andrew Eisen