The trailer that leaked earlier for Telltale's Sam and Max Season 3 (aka The Devil's Playhouse) claimed the first part of the five-episode season would come out in April. Now IGN brings us word that the first chapter's release date is, more specifically, April 15.

Apparently, Season 3 will come with an in-game notebook designed to get new players up to speed on the events of previous seasons. Also, the article confirms that the direct control scheme which Telltale first debuted in Tales of Monkey Island will now be ported to Sam and Max. Other technical improvements, such as real-time shadows, have also been implemented.

The pre-order price will be $29.95, a five-dollar savings from the standard season price $34.95, much as with other Telltale titles. (As happened with Tales, Telltale will be selling only the season package, not individual episodes.) Plus, as with the Tales pre-orders, those who pre-order will get access to a special forum to chat with the game developers until the first episode goes out.

The series is scheduled to debut on three platforms--PlayStation Network, PC, and Mac--simultaneously. For those who want to experience The Devil's Playhouse on PSN, pre-orders will be available through the PlayStation Store.

Oh, and do beware: the IGN article contains a few SPOILERS for the first episode's beginning.

Edit: Updated to reflect the actual pre-order price, as opposed to IGN's speculation.