The furore over system reqs will be resolved one way or the other when the demo for Arcania is released on September 24th, according a JoWood press release (German). The PR isn't available in their English PR area, so I'm unclear what languages will be offered in the demo. More information.
Awesome. All the Gothic games have had demos. I remember the Gothic I demo selling me on that one - I wasn't blown away but thought it looked interesting... how little I knew