Although excerpts from it have been previously made available, the postmortem for Brütal Legend that appeared in the December issue of Game Developer magazine is now available in its entirety on Gamasutra. The comprehensive look back by executive producer Caroline Esmurdoc on what went right and wrong during the project's enormous production is more than worth the read you're going to be giving it.

Yes, Telltale has finally launched its website for Sam and Max Season 3: The Devil's Playhouse.

The site includes the recently-leaked-and-then-removed official season trailer, plus several screenshots from the first episode, whose title is, as we had already guessed, The Penal Zone. Incidentally, a couple of the new images showcase the new direct control system in action!

The website also includes the names of all five episodes in the season.

• Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
• Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain!
• Episode 4: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
• Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep

Also of note: The Tales of Monkey Island Collector's DVD is finally available to pre-order!

As well, there's now a boatload of new Monkey Island merchandise available, including a second set of TMI buttons, a replica of the Voodoo Lady's tarot card set, a TMI drinking mug, a TMI T-shirt, a portfolio of concept art by Telltale's Ryan Church, and best of all, a "treasure chest" of TMI swag. This last item includes, among other things, a replica Piece of Eight, a "Trial of the Century-y-y-y" souvenir button, and a copy of Reginald Van Winslow's beloved map.

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.

It pales in comparison to our previous announcements, but at some point in last night's exciting press conference, LucasArts announced that the clothing of various Monkey Island characters would soon be available for your PlayStation Home avatar to wear.

This Joystiq article includes a photo. It appears that most of the costumes are taken from the Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition.

Sadly, it would seem that Stan's coat features a realistic plaid pattern! Shocking, we know.

"LeChucks Revenge: Special Edition is official! New puzzles, new enemies, new hair!"

New Puzzles? What?

And... is there an announcement Three?

Update by Jason: While clarification of the features will no doubt come in the morning in the form of a press release and an official site launch, it's been confirmed that, like with Monkey Island 1, there will be full voice acting, and the original game will be included. "Developer commentary" has bizarrely been alluded to as a bonus feature - who knows what that means, but Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert were on-site for the announcement. Also, here's the cover art.

Further Update by ATMachine: According to LucasArts' Twitter feed, MI2:SE will feature voice acting both in the high-resolution updated-graphics mode and in the low-res, original-graphics mode. Plus, Guybrush's hairstyle has been changed, so hopefully there will be fewer complaints about that this time round.

Update 3: According to LucasArts, MI2:SE will be available for PSN, XBLA, Mac, iPhone, and PC.

Update 4: This Joystiq article suggests that the game will be released "this summer." Also, there will be a new direct control scheme implemented in addition to the previously used point-and-click method.

Finally, it notes this about the extra content:

"They've also added never-before-seen art from Peter Chan and Steve Purcell and developer commentary (!) for you Monkey Island fanboys out there (that's you)."

Update 5 by Jason: Official site launched and here's the press release.

LucasArts has revealed via its Twitter account that The Secret of Monkey Island (Special Edition) is heading to the Playstation Network and to Mac. That's "Announcement One", apparently.

Expect more details in the coming hours from the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

And bring on "Announcement Two"!

Update by ATMachine: Reports trickling out from the LucasArts press conference suggest that SOMI:SE will soon become available for purchase from Telltale's website. However, this has not been confirmed yet.

Update 2: In addition to the earlier Twitter report, Kotaku has now picked up the news of Telltale selling SOMI:SE in their online store, so it seems pretty official.

Ace Mojo news reporter Kroms has dug up this story on Wired, which announces that a new chunk of downloadable content for Brütal Legend, titled Hammer of Infinite Fate, will be available on both PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360 from December 17.

The new DLC will include a few extra achievements for players to quest after, several new outfits for Eddie Riggs, new paint jobs for his car the Deuce, and best of all, something called the "Oculus of the Lost," basically a GPS system for the Deuce which allows you to find hidden collectible items you haven't unlocked yet.

And for those who aren't afraid of some SPOILERS, the list of the new achievements is already online.

So apparently there's this The Art of Brütal Legend coffee-table book, which is coming out in December if Amazon.com is to be believed.

Go get your pre-order on. Or wait for it to be released. The choice... is yours.

Thanks to elTee on IRC for the tip!

A double piece of good news for Wii owners, as both Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan and the eagerly awaited SNES classic Zombies Ate My Neighbours (AT LAST) are now available on the system for download, on WiiWare and Virtual Console respectively.

Hoorah!

So apparently there's this cartoon on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim called Metalocalypse, about the fictional metal band Dethklok. Well, turns out that in last night's episode a commercial aired last night, Eddie Riggs showed up in a cameo as the band's roadie, and demonstrated his awesome skills of asskickery in the process.

I mean, come on. If you were in a metal band, wouldn't you hire him?

(Thanks to PirateKing for the tip!)

After a long delay, Telltale will finally be releasing Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space (aka Sam and Max Season Two) on Xbox Live this Wednesday, the 14th of October. The price is 1600 Microsoft Points.

Telltale are also promising that further episodes of Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures will arrive on Xbox Live starting in November.

So on the 7th, we get Tales of Monkey Island - then, a week later it's The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition.

Well, at least if this is to be believed. Thanks to Nickelstein over on our forum for pointing this out.

As many of you have mentioned, releasing the Special Edition after TMI seems like a bad move on LucasArts' part. The game is clearly ready to roll, and it's a digital distribution so... what's the wait?

But LucasArts are experts on the adventure game marketplace, and I can't even figure out what time the sun sets on Melee Island. So we'll wait and see on this one, I suppose...

But yeah, let's not end this on a sour note: the preliminary report is that MI:SE will be available from the 15th of July, and that is awesome.

Out of blue, from Microsoft to you: MONKEY ISLAND: SPECIAL EDITION - the E3 Preview Video.

You weren't expecting the actual game, were you? Still plenty of time for Marketplace Realities yet...

Of note is the fact that they chose to use an image made by LucasForums member parabolee, rather than any official artwork. The Mojo lawyers are considering the legal impact of sending an ironic 'cease and desist' letter to LucasArts as we speak.

Check it all out here.

Starting today, Nintendo has added the Commodore 64 to its list of platforms with classic games available for download through its Virtual Console service. The "launch games" are International Karate, The Last Ninja, and Pitstop II.

Why is this relevant? Well, because the original versions of Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders were released for the Commodore, and they are undeniable classics of the system's library, so maybe we'll see them offered at some point? Of course, it's not like any LucasArts game for the NES, SNES, or N64 have been made available, but maybe that Fate of Atlantis bonus feature in the new Indy game bodes well for the future?

Or not. But let us also not forget that the entirety of LEC's pre-Maniac catalog was ported to the C64, including PHM Pegasus, Labyrinth, Koronis Rift, The Eidolon, Rescue on Fractalus!, and yes, even the immortal Ballblazer. The company's earliest development efforts were considered state of the art for their time, and it would be really cool if they found their way to the homes of Wii owners 25 years later. It's also kind of really weird to be reminded that there was actually a time when LEC did nothing but develop original games, and merely licensed the Star Wars and Indy brands to other publishers for quick, risk-free money. They at least seem to be coming full circle in the latter regard.

Shipping today after years of speculation and wishful thinking is the Wii port of Sam & Max: Season 1, developed by Telltale and published by The Adventure Company. You ought to be able to find this baby on North American store shelves this week, whereas international customers will have to wait just a bit longer.

If you were one of those people clamoring for seeing Sam & Max on the Wii someday, now's the time to put your money where your mouth is, and ensure that Season 2 gets the same treatment. Wait patiently for your pre-order to be fulfilled, or end your procrastination and buy now!

Oh, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is on home video today as well. As a direct result, Ray Winstone's "Jonesy! I'm gonna be alright." is now my Windows error sound.

It seems that the North American release of Sam & Max: Season 1 for the Wii will not be gracing store shelves this week, as initially reported, but rather next week, due to a "manufacturing delay". Ah well, only one week.

Remember that pre-ordering from Gamestop gets you that bonus disc.

... in demo form. If you're still not sure about LucasArts' only original IP this year, now you can give it a go on Xbox Live before the game's release on 7th October. This means one thing - Sam & Max Wii will be wiping the floor with it.

LucasArts have just announced that a demo for Fracture is coming to Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Whatever They Call Their Internet next week. It should be available September 18th. The game itself is out October 7th in the US and October 10th everywhere else.

With The Force Unleashed also out and the possible reappearance of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings too, next week's looking pretty rosy for LucasArts. Assuming any of them are actually good...

IGN is now the first proper site to review Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. It's a pretty favourable review altogether.

However, a surprise was apparently included with the game: an advertisement for an as-yet unannounced LucasArts game. Don't get too excited - it's a Star Wars game, the long-rumoured game based on the new Clone Wars series and movie coming out this Autumn/Fall.

The game will come out the same time. Of most interest is that it will apparently be exclusive to Nintendo's two consoles - Wii and DS. What the game will be like is anyone's guess, but as it's not even been announced properly yet and is out in a few months, I'm not holding my breath.

After a slight delay that prevented it from being released with its PC and Xbox 360 counterparts this past fall, it seems that the Wii version of CSI: Hard Evidence, Telltale's first Wii game ever, is now shipping. Get it while it's hot!