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April Fools!

Last night Telltale Games held a secret press-exclusive event in order to announce their new venture with Steve Purcell and Traveller’s Tales, the British game developer well known for their line of LEGO video games.

The game will be developed internally at Traveller’s Tales and will feature Sam & Max in LEGO form, following the tried and tested repetitive action gameplay format from their previous titles such as LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Batman.

Although not the usual solid adventure genre Sam & Max fans will be used to, for the first time ever in a LEGO game all the characters will be fully voiced, with writing being helmed by Telltale designer Sean Vanaman. David Nowlin and William Kasten will provide the dog and rabbity-thing’s voices.

Telltale CEO Dan Connors had the following to say:

For years we’ve been receiving support emails from confused consumers needing help with LEGO Star Wars. One lunch time it was jokingly discussed within the office if the world would implode should we team up with Traveller’s Tales. Well, I guess we’ll be finding out! With the blessing of Steve Purcell, we’re thrilled that his universe will continue to expand while we focus on our other more important projects such as The Walking Dead, Fables and King’s Quest.

The game will be a brand new experience for the duo with an all new cast of characters and locations to visit, but it was teased that fan favourite The Geek could be making a return. Controversially, in order to comply with LEGO standards, Sam & Max will no longer possess guns or swear, instead occasionally offering tips on how to recycle or to be grateful for what you have.

A trailer and some screenshots were promised to be appearing in a couple of months. The game, tentatively titled LEGO Sam & Max, is due for release in the first quarter of 2012.

In order to raise money for the recent tragedy in Japan, gaming website 1up are auctioning off video game related items on eBay in aid of the American Red Cross. All money raised from the sale price will go directly to charity.

Of interest to you folks will be a Symbiote Studios statue signed by Dave Grossman, Mike Stemmle, Andy Hartzell and others, plus a Highway Surfing poster print signed by Steve Purcell. You can place your bid for these special items on eBay, although at the moment shipping is only to the U.S.

Be sure to place a bid if you’re able to, or check out their other items to see if anything else appeals.

Those of you in the U.S. and Canada can now get The Devil’s Playhouse for free from now through to April 4 if you sign up to a one-month trial of the popular rental service Netflix.

The offer is for all five episodes of Sam & Max’s latest outing and can be redeemed through TrialPay. Presumably you can just cancel the Netflix trial before the month is up, so there doesn’t seem to be much to lose.

An unofficial, community calendar featuring Sam & Max fan art is now up for sale for $20.95 at Zazzle. All the earnings made will go to the charity Child’s Play, which cheers up children’s hospitals by providing them with toys. A sure fire way to brighten your room and children’s lives.

You can also print the calendar yourself or download the wallpapers for free; but don’t let that stop you donating to charity, whether that be Child Play’s or one of your choosing.