Square Enix has announced a release date for Final Fantasy XIII-2, the direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII. Japan will get the game by the end of the year, on December 15, 2011. The rest of the world will have to wait a little longer — North America will see FF13-2 on January 31, 2012, while Europe will have to wait until February 3.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes place three years after the events of the first game, and focuses on the search for Lightning, the first game’s protagonist, by her sister Serah and a new character. Much of the game’s development has focused on improving the gameplay style of the original based on feedback from players.

Here’s the latest trailer for Final Fantasy XIII-2 from the Tokyo Game Show (TGS).

Microsoft has announced that the Fable series will have another installment next year, a spin-off for the Kinect for Xbox 360.

The game, Fable: The Journey, will make use of Kinect gestures, in particular hand movements, as the game’s primary controls. The gameplay appears to be that of a rail game, where the character is directed along a path and interactions are made with objects entering the character’s range.

More on Fable: The Journey and other RPG news from E3 as we get it.

BioWare announced this week that its upcoming Mass Effect 3 will be shown off at E3 this year, and then subsequently announced its delay to early 2012.

The game was initially promoted with a holiday 2011 release date, but BioWare has pushed the date back into Q1 2012. The company cites a focus on product quality as its reason for the delay.

For those dying to see what Mass Effect 3 has to offer, June will bring more.  Mass Effect 3 is listed as one of the featured games for BioWare at the E3 event, which will be held June 7-9 in Los Angeles.

More on Mass Effect 3 as it comes.

Square Enix has announced a sequel to its most recent single-player flagship Final Fantasy title. Final Fantasy XIII-2 is in development for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The game was announced at a press conference this week with a new FF13-2 trailer. Not many details about the game are known, except for what can be derived from the trailer. Lightning will be back, along with a new character shown alongside her in the logo and in the trailer.

FF13-2 is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, which was released for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2009. Direct sequels are uncommon for Final Fantasy games, though recently more titles have seen them.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is due out next Winter for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Final Fantasy’s next PSP game has been broken off from the Final Fantasy XIII project. Final Fantasy Agito XIII was planned to be a part of a three-game project which included FF13, along with Final Fantasy Versus XIII. However, the game has now been re-named as Final Fantasy Type-0.

Square Enix explains that the game was originally meant to be a part of the Final Fantasy XIII universe, sharing a similar mythology and history, though the game’s stories would be unconnected. However, the game has since been more fully developed and the FF13 connections do not fit the story. So, the game has been broken off entirely. The game has also been expanded to require two UMD discs.

Those interested in the Final Fantasy XIII project will be happy to learn that the void left by Agito XIII has been filled: Square Enix announced Final Fantasy XIII-2, a direct sequel to FF13, the same day.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is expected to be released this summer in Japan. A North American release will follow, but has not been set.

Square Enix has registered a domain name for the game Final Fantasy XIII-2. The company has quietly registered the Internet address finalfantasy13-2game.com.

This leads to the obvious speculation that Square Enix is planning a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII. No official announcement has come from Square Enix, the company neither confirming nor denying an FF13-2.

Final Fantasy XIII is already part of a multi-game progject, whcih encompasses it, as well as the PS3-exclusive Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the PSP title Final Fantasy Agito XIII.

Update: Square Enix officially announced Final Fantasy XIII-2 on January 18, 2011. The game is expected later in 2011.