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.

Final Fantasy XIV has been given a release date, at least for its PC version. The Square Enix MMORPG will be out worldwide on September 22, 2010 for the Windows PC platform.

Meanwhile, the PS3 version needs more work, and Square Enix has delayed its release until March 2011.

Final Fantasy XIV will have a monthly fee of $12.99 U.S., with additional fees for adding extra characters.

Final Fantasy XIV is now available for pre-order from Amazon at, offering a standard edition for $50 U.S. and a collector’s edition for $75. Amazon.ca also has the same offerings at the same prices in Canadian dollars.

A few new details about the PS3-exclusive Final Fantasy Versus XIII have emerged.

Perhaps most interesting is that Final Fantasy Versus XIII will have an open-world environment. After the linear gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII, this is very welcome. Players will be able to go anywhere in the game’s world, except for certain mountain areas which are reserved for later.

One of the cities in Versus XIII is modelled after the real-life Shinjuku, a dense commercial ward in Tokyo.

The game will feature objects found in the field that are subject to your destructive forces. Final Fantasy Versus XIII also put attention into modelling the sky. A physics engine is being applied to the clouds in order to render a realistic skyscape.

The game promises seamless battles. Certain large areas will require some loading, but for the most part the game aims to be seamless in all transitions. The game’s designers also claim that these will be the highest-quality battle scenes yet.

A few screenshots have been scanned in as well. These are all captured in real-time from the PS3 console, not pre-rendered.

As a bonus, we’ve also learned that in the PSP title Final Fantasy Agito XIII, chocobos and airships will appear offering travel around a world map in the way we’re used to with Final Fantasy games.

Snowblind Studios is hard at work on a new RPG based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The new game is called The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.

The game takes place in the northern areas of middle-earth, providing some background lore to go with the books and Lord of the Rings movies. The game will feature heavy character customization, upgradable skills and action-RPG gameplay including a co-op mode.

The game also promises to have dialogue in the style of Mass Effect, where options have effects later, as well as moral consequences for the characters.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is due out in 2011.

Square Enix has announced both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as a new Chocobo Racing 3D game. But the most developed 3DS title announced is Kingdom Hearts 3D, an entirely new Kingdom Hearts game starring the characters Riku and Sora.

Altus has also announced that it will release some of its Shin Megami Tensei games on the Nintendo 3DS, including the original Shin Megami Tensei, as well as Devil Survivor and Persona. The Shin Megami Tensei series is very popular in Japan, after Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

Nintendo will also release Paper Mario 3DS for the new handheld, taking the series back to its roots with turn-based RPG battles. And, of course, a new Pokémon title is on the way for the 3DS as well.

Not quite an RPG in the traditional sense, but The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time will also be remade for the 3DS.

The original DS got some love, though — Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was announced for the Nintendo DS.

It looks like the Nintendo 3DS will be friendly to the RPG gamer. More on this new handheld as we get it.