This year’s E3 saw a short, but sweet teaser trailer for Fable 2 on Xbox 360; no details were revealed, but a few new tidbits are now available through an update by Sam on Lionhead’s website.

The developer has apparently submitted a “milestone” build to Microsoft; it was well-received, though the author mentions modestly that they haven’t done “too badly.” It seems that the studio is avoiding the mistakes it made with the first Fable – talking too much about it – and has decided not to divulge any details, though the post mentions a motion capture session, among other things.

However, Sam does report that the final storyline has been set in stone and that they are hard at work on implementing it in the game. The story, as stated, will be mature and darker from the original Fable; it will be set 500 years after the original and will have some “rather cool” twists to it.

The studio will submit another milestone build next month, so another update can be expected then.

Atari has announced that it has signed a deal with Playlogic to distribute Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales throughout Europe, US and Asia. Scheduled for release this September, the game, developed by Akella, will let players relive the glorious days of pirates, living through the “reckless” adventures of a pirate’s life on the Caribbean Sea.

In Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales, players take the role of reckless fortune-hunter Blaze or alternatively his red-headed daredevil stepsister Beatrice, and sail the rough seas in a tall ship with a loyal crew of vicious cutthroats and fierce corsairs. As players navigate through the Caribbean Sea, they will encounter massive naval battles and sword fights, take on challenging quests, conquer and manage colonies, trade goods and plunder merchant convoys to make fortunes.

The game will feature 16 different sail ships, varying weather conditions, day and night cycles, multiplayer battles with up to 16 opponents and more.

SNK and Ignition Entertainment have announced that King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2 will be released in Europe for the PS2 this Autumn.

The new game in the fighting franchise will feature 24 initially selectable characters, with many more unlockable during the course of the game; new and improved fighting system; lots of extras; four modes of play, including Story, Versus, Challenge and Practice; and even more.

Meanwhile, Koei has sent word that it plans on releasing Disgaea 2 and Atelier Iris 2 on PS2 in Europe the same season. Here’s a bit on Disgaea 2:

Disgaea’s wickedly dark sense of humour has always been one of its most popular features and this has been taken to a whole new level of evil enjoyment with the new Dark Court system. Now the player is positively encouraged to be bad with the game rewarding your darkest most devious actions. But be careful, there are positive and negative results for everything you do within the game. Think you’re badder than you really are and you might just get summoned to court and suffer the shame of being found innocent.

As a direct response to calls from fans of the original, Disgaea 2 will now take place within a brand new 3D environment with animated sprites and anime cut scenes. Players will also be able to stack their characters on top of each other in order to combine their powers and unleash special combos and attacks.

Disgaea 2 is the latest RPG spectacular from Nippon Ichi and follows in the footsteps of the hugely popular titles Makai Kingdom, Phantom Brave, La Pucelle: tactics and of course the massive original Disgaea. With a whole new cast of characters along with many of the gang fondly remembered from the first game all turning up to do battle, Disgaea 2 is already looking like being one of the RPG events of the year.

As for the other title, Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny will ship in September and will feature new characters, two different worlds to explore, a new “Active Time Battle System”, and more new stuff. The UK release of the game will also see more powerful monsters, allowing for “even more thrilling battles.”

There is word on the Auto Assault website of a merger between the North American and European servers. Further details of the merger, which occurs on July 13, can be found on the game’s official European forums. Apparently, the union will result in a single server located in North America and “a much more satisfying and diverse gameplay experience” due to increased server population.