Final Fantasy XIII March 9 Release Date, Leona Lewis Theme Song Announced

Final Fantasy XIII, the highly-anticipated latest chapter in the epic RPG series featuring Chocobos and airships, has a release date for North America and Europe: March 9, 2010. That means the Western world will have to wait 4 months after the Japanese release date of December 17, 2009. Pop songstress Leona Lewis provides the English version's theme song.

Final Fantasy XIII Release Date and A New Console
Final Fantasy XIII will be hitting the stores on its March 9 release date, for the first time on more than one console. Previously a Playstation exclusive game, Final Fantasy XIII will introduce XBox users to its lush, rich, and complex world.

Final Fantasy XIII Theme Song and Storyline
British pop star Leona Lewis will provide the North America/Europe version's theme song, entitled "My Hands." Leona Lewis is also providing a song for James Cameron's Avatar movie. Sayuri Sugawara sings the Japanese version's theme song. The opening theme song will transition into a Final Fantasy storyline that is all about female empowerment, as it features a strong female lead character, a former soldier named Lightning.

Final Fantasy XIII Gameplay Going Back To Its Roots
The Final Fantasy XIII gameplay will be a return to its traditional RPG roots, which is a turn-based battle system. Final Fantasy XII was a strange departure from the series canon because it introduces a gambit system, an automated set of commands which employed the game's character AI to fight battles. In some instances, a Final Fantasy XII could have their character gambits set up, and go make a sandwich during a battle with a defiant Ash Wyrm. Classic battle controls are back, but more seamless this time around.

Final Fantasy XIV Release Date
Square Enix promises the wait between Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV will be much shorter than the gap between Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XIII. The long wait was a result of the developers upgrading the game to adapt to the higher resolution of the Playstation 3 and XBox 360 consoles.

The Final Fantasy Legacy
Final Fantasy has become a dominant and popular franchise in the video game world, ever since the first Final Fantasy game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Avid game players appreciate the epic length and storyline of the Final Fantasy games, and the fact that every Final Fantasy game is an improvement upon the last one. Certain Final Fantasy games are loved more than others, and some of the gameplay tweaks draw ardent critics, but no two Final Fantasy games are the same.

Sources:
Kotaku, Final Fantasy XIII Hits North America March 9
Japanator, Leona Lewis is singing Final Fantasy XIII's English theme
Wikipedia, Final Fantasy XIII