Fans of James Hannigan's work are in for a treat: click below for an in-depth and revealing interview with the Dead Space 3 composer.

Christopher Tin has confirmed on his Facebook that he is composing a sequel to his Grammy-winning world music album Calling All Dawns. Producing the album will take him around the world — London, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Dubai, Sofia, and New York — to studios such as Abbey Road and stages such as Lincoln Center. He will document his progress with updates, pictures, videos, and behind-the-scenes looks at the composing and recording process on Facebook.

Kenji Ito's music from the Mana and SaGa franchises will be celebrated on February 23 with a special concert at Nihonbashi Hall, Tokyo. Entitled One Night Re:Birth, the event will feature performances based on the Seiken Densetsu Arrange Album -Re:Birth- and Romancing SaGa Battle Arrange -Re:Birth II-. The performers include Kenji Ito on piano, Reiko Tsuchiya on violin, Masaru Teramae and Noriyuki Kamikura on guitars, Atsushi Enomoto on bass, and Yuu Yamauchi on drums. The event is being organised by Harmonics International with support from Square Enix and Ito's music studio Gentle Echo.

Between January 3 to 6, MAGFest X will celebrate gaming and music with a four day festival in Washington D.C. Once again, the festival will combine game rooms with musical performances, guest speakers, and a party-like atmosphere. This year's event will feature numerous musical performers, including legendary game musician Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, Ys), popular bands (e.g. The Megas, Armcannon, The OneUps), chiptune legends (Jake Kaufman, Inverse Phase, Danimal Cannon), and DJs (e.g. Benjamin Briggs, bLiNd, Dj Cutman). Other special guests include Chris Huelsbeck, Kinuyo Yamashita, Luke Esquivel, Vincent Diamante, Chris Geehan, and Josh Whelchel. The event also offers 24-hour console, arcade, and PC game rooms, an indie game showcase, a vendors area, and a JamSpace for impromptu performances. For much more info, check the official website.

We recently announced that progressive chiptune album Preschtale from Russian artist Dmitry Zhemkov (aka C-jeff) won the 2012 AGMA for 'Best Album - Chiptune'. Ubiktune have confirmed that a follow up album is in the work, Preschtale Variations, featuring 16 performances and covers based on original material. The artists include Jay Tholen, Zackery Wilson, coda, Stemage, Shannon Mason, Fearofdark, SubPixel, PROTO·DOME, Monomer, surasshu, Aivi Tran, El Mobo, Yoann Turpin, Maxo, Shnabubula, Gabe Terracciano, and C-jeff, who is completing the album and handling the project direction. Over one hour in length, Preschtale Variations covers a long list of genres and sounds, from chiptune and electronic renditions to metal and acoustic performances. The album will be exclusively presented during a broadcast on Noise Channel Radio at January 1 (8 PM, PST), then released right after as a free download from Ubiktune.

On March 7, Sony Computer Entertainment will release Keiji Inafune's action-adventure epic Soul Sacrifice for the PlayStation Vita. The score will feature orchestral music from both Yasunori Mitsuda (Xenosaga, Soma Bringer) and Wataru Hokoyama (Afrika, Resident Evil 5), recently recorded by the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. A brief behind-the-scenes look at the recording sessions is available here. Team Entertainment have confirmed they are releasing the game's soundtrack on March 13.

Pawel Blaszczak has released his first original album, Days and Dreams, on iTunes. The album features the Commodore 64 sound chip that inspired Blaszczak. Described as 'nostalgic, romantic, and romantic', the album combines classic electronic music with piano sounds. Blaszczak, the sound director and composer of developer Techland, is currently working on Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, Project Hell, and Dead Island: Riptide.

UK jazz / chiptune artist PROTODOME has released his latest album through Ubiktune in time for Christmas. Entitled Blueshift, it features 13 tracks combining big band, 80’s synth funk, and saccharine chip-pop. It also includes a special bonus song and features guest vocal performances by Alissa and Marianne Thompsons. The album concludes the BLUE trilogy, following Bluenoise and Bluescreen.

Tim Wright (aka CoLD SToRAGE) has released information and samples related to his Psygnosis tribute album Strix Memorial. Announced in 2010, the album feature remixes of tracks from Wright's Amiga scores from the 1990s, as decided by a public poll. The featured tracks will include Shadow of the Beast II & III, Awesome, Magician's Castle, Sensible Soccer, and Lemmings. Wright has uploaded a preview on SoundCloud featuring pre-production demos of his reworks dedicated to Aquaventura and Agony. A limited edition USB stick featuring the album in WAV format can be pre-ordered here before January 31.

Game composer C418 has released the soundtrack for the feature-length documentary Minecraft: The Story of Mojang. The film chronicles how Minecraft turned from hobbyist project to worldwide phenomenon, as well the formation of Mojang, the studio built upon Minecraft's success. Called one, the soundtrack is the longest album C418 has created to date and has been released in two versions: a 31-track album via Bandcamp and a 35-track physical edition available via Fangamer, holding four exclusive remixes and clocking in at 110 minutes.

Square Enix released the first trailer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII yesterday. The track created for the trailer, "Crimson Blitz", has been released as a separate download on iTunes.Composed by Masashi Hamauzu and arranged by Ryo Yamazaki, the track features vocalist Mina, violinist Hijiri Kuwano, and guitarist Yuya Ebisawa. It combines new composition with a reprise of a Final Fantasy XIII classic.

Game publisher D3 publisher has released the soundtrack for 2D action-adventure game Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!! for streaming via Soundcloud. The music was written by prominent indie game composer Jake Kaufman, co-composer of 2012 AGMA winner for Best Score — Retro / Remixed Retro City Rampage. According to Kaufman's twitter account, the 35-track Soundcloud release also includes pieces that were cut from the game or reduced in length.

Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead) has been confirmed as the composer of upcoming indie movie Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie. The film will be based on Angry Video Game Nerd creator James Rolfe's web series of eviscerating, humorous video game reviews. According to McCreary, who already scored the 2010 Christmas Special episode of Angry Video Game Nerd, the film is the perfect opportunity to combine his love of old-school games and orchestral storytelling. McCreary's game score credentials, which include large-scale orchestral works like SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs and chiptunes projects including Dark Void Zero, doubtlessly make him an ideal candidate for Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie.

Game composer Rafael Dyll, best known for Rainbow Moon Melodies and his work on the Sцldner-X franchise, has released his score for indie platformer Ninja Sprint via his Bandcamp page. Described by Dyll as his "new, but rather different and fun" album, Ninja Sprint features "swirling arps, 8-Bit sounds, not-quite-so-serious eastern melodies and a thumping drum and bass fundament" across its six tracks and is available from 1 Euro.

The soundtrack for indie platformer KRUNCH has been released via Bandcamp. The 31-minute album is a collaboration between the game's co-creator Mike Lohaus (aka Dirk Rugged) and prominent chiptune composer Richard Vreeland (aka Disasterpeace), who made waves earlier this year with his acclaimed score for FEZ. A combination of futuristic chiptune sounds and rhythms that alternate between driving rock beats and jazzy overtones, KRUNCH is one of Vreeland's strongest releases so far and an audacious debut for Lohaus.

Game music composer Kyle Gabler (World of Goo) has released his score for indie game Little Inferno for free as a digital download. Available in flac and mp3 format, Little Inferno's soundtrack comprises 22 tracks. Citing John Williams, Danny Elfman and Vangelis as inspirations for Little Inferno, Gabler's goal was "to write music that sounded like it could have been written in that time of VHS tapes and Stan Winston special effects, with clear, hummable melodies for each character and theme."

Austin Wintory has confirmed in a recent interview that he will score the Kickstarter-funded remake Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded. Given the nature of the series, the score will have a very different feel to his Grammy-nominated Journey, and listeners should expect some "seedy, back alley kind of stuff". The composer has also scored Monaco and The Banner Saga, both due out in coming weeks.

Sean Beeson (Mecho Wars, Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion) has released the soundtrack for Ravensword: Shadowlands on his Bandcamp. The game is the sequel to the iOS landmark fantasy title Ravensword: The Fallen King. Beeson's score boasts a range of styles and mood, many adopting an epic orchestral approach. It is available for streaming and can be purchased on a name-your-price basis.

After an immensely successful Kickstarter campaign to fund his album, composer and remixer Andrew Aversa (aka zircon) has released Identity Sequence. According to Aversa, the album is the "the culmination of a five-year musical endeavor" and combines "progressive trance, dubstep, drum and bass, breakbeat, atmospheric downtempo, and many other highly rhythmic electronic subgenres [...] into a cohesive body of songs." Among the artists that Aversa worked with on Identity Sequence are Jillian Aversa, Jeff Ball and the Philadelphia Men's Chorale.

FreQuency have revealed they are releasing their second full album early next year. Entitled Sunrise, the 16 track album will include original compositions and the Armored Core V cinematic trailer music "Vanishing". Led by Kota Hoshino, FreQuency is the in-house band of From Software; they debuted last year with the arranged album Armored Core Reprises. Sunrise will be released by From Sound Records on February 22, 2013.