A cool little interview about the tech being used in the Witcher 2 popped up on IGN recently:

The game looks absolutely stunning.  You can currently pre-order it for only $44.99 on Steam.  You get the Preimum Edition, which comes with all sorts of extra goodies, like making ofs and whatnot.  Plus its full Steamworks, so you get Achievements, cloud saving, the works.

Here are some screens for those who haven't been keeping up on the game:

http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/1/3/0/4/0/1/0/TheWitcher2_battle03.jpg.jpg
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/1/3/0/4/0/1/0/TheWitcher2_battle04.jpg.jpg
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/1/1/4/0/8/1/2/28572The_Witcher_2_Screenshot_04.jpg.jpg
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/1/1/4/0/8/1/2/28575The_Witcher_2_Screenshot_07.jpg.jpg
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/1/1/4/0/8/1/2/28584The_Witcher_2_Screenshot_16.jpg.jpg
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/1/1/4/0/8/1/2/28578The_Witcher_2_Screenshot_10.jpg.jpg
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/1/0/2/3/7/3/9/17905_02.jpg.jpg

This game is indeed mighty impressive.

I may have to get this next year on PC. Though I wish they'd still continue with Console Versions...

It won't look anything close to that on consoles, I assure you.  :P

I'd also put the general scale of some sections in question, like the battle scene.

Given I had issues with the Witcher (I had to scale it back a good bit to run it smoothly on my PCs -- running at maximum settings was a jerk-fest), I've been pretty wary of this, but I'm liking what I'm seeing there. Pretty pleased that they're keeping scalability at the forefront of the development, and are also keeping their minds open regards console development in the future, ensuring their engine is platform agnostic.

I can't remember precisely which engine the Witcher used, but it definitely had some major optimization issues.  Even with my current rig, I get framerate hickups (ATI 5750, 4gb DDR3, Athlon X2 635)

However, from what I've read that was primarily a result of the engine available to them at the time, and with this game they're putting a lot more work into designing their own engine.  They're incorporating plenty of hitrd party resources like Havok, of course, but they're designing the overall package to better suit their needs this go around.

I wouldn't expect to be as optimized as a Valve or Blizzard game, of course, but it should run much better than the first game.

wait, isnt it coming on consoles? i remember seeing on its e3 stage demo that it was coming on consoles, or did they cancel that?

They originally stated it was coming to consoles, and they've reiterated that as recently this past May.  However, we have yet to see any sign of the console versions, and Namco has thus far only announced that they're publishing the PC version.

Between that and the fact that the console versions of the first game were canceled late last year, it seems unlikely we'll see the Witcher 2 on consoles anytime close to its PC release, if at all.

Edit:

This is the most recent statement they've given on the console versions:

Should The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings ever arrive on consoles, it’ll do so mere months after the PC versions release. “It just wouldn’t make commercial sense” otherwise, developer CD Projekt Red says.

What are the chance of it actually happening though? Talking at a press event last week, senior producer Tomasz Gop and co-founder and CEO Marcin Iwinski clarified on just that.

“We’ve openly said our technology supports multiplatform,” Iwinski said. “We know how many players, especially in the UK as well as in the US, play on Xbox 360. We are pretty good at maths. That’s all I can say for now.”

“This is too difficult a question because I can’t tell you directly what’s happening inside the studio,” Gop adds. However: “we’re doing everything we can to make sure one day The Witcher 2 will be released on the current generation of consoles.” 

The studio has performed a lot of tests and does “a reality check every half a year or so,” he further explains. “We take a level from the game and we try to put it inside our engine, because it’s console capable on Xbox 360 and PS3.”

“It’s doable.”

If there will in fact be a console version, “it will be a matter of months…I’m fully aware of the fact there are quite a lot of people who don’t have a PC at home anymore.”

Haha I know that but I play the game because of the gameplay not Graphics :D

Just like a lot of the Multiplat games where the PC versions are far superior than Console counterparts, I really don't care. That's why I'm getting Crysis 2, ME2, etc all on PS3.

I'm simply a major Console Gamer.

It's fairly impressive. I don't like the style of the graphics though, there's something grainy about them and something about the color tone I never liked in Witcher.

The gameplay they're trying with the almost sandbox style freedom of choice is very col though.

Lookin good technically, but I will probably hate the gameplay just as much as in the first game