Telltale Games today announced that their much anticipated Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock is now available on the GameTap subscription service. Gamers with access to the service can now download the game, with new episodes promised in the future. In addition, Sam & Max cartoons from the animated series will be made available as well. The GameTap service typically costs $9.95 US per month to subscribe, and is available right now for US and Canadian citizens. Currently, gamers can get 50% off the subscription price by pre-paying for a year of service. Those who are not members of GameTap will be able to download the game directly from Telltale Games on November 1, for $8.95.

The full press release continues below.

“Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock” Premieres Today on GameTap

GameTap Original “Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock” Premieres Today Only on GameTap

Subscribers get exclusive first access to the game, plus the animated
television series and original machinima shorts on GameTap TV

ATLANTA, Oct. 17—Today GameTap, the first-of-its-kind broadband entertainment network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), celebrates its first birthday by giving subscribers exclusive access to “Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock.” The title, co-published with interactive entertainment pioneer Telltale, Inc., heralds the type of games subscribers can expect from the just-established “GameTap Original” label, under which GameTap will create and publish new and original titles from independent developers for distribution on its broadband network.

Along with first access to every episode of Sam & Max: Season 1, GameTap subscribers will get the full Sam & Max treatment via exclusive GameTap TV offerings, including weekly releases of the complete 1997 animated Sam & Max television series and a documentary that takes gamers behind the scenes for “The Making of Sam & Max.”

To top it off, beginning on November 30, 2006, all new machinima animated shorts will premiere weekly on GameTap leading up to the launch of each episode. Created by Telltale, the shorts fill in the back story and give gamers their weekly Sam & Max fix between monthly episodes.

“Working with Telltale was part of the inspiration for the GameTap Original label and Sam & Max: Season 1 epitomizes the kinds of innovative titles we’ll be bringing to the service,” said Ricardo Sanchez, GameTap’s vice president of content. “Telltale’s talent, coupled with our distribution network and a mutual understanding of true episodic gaming, means creative and challenging fun for gamers across the board.”

“Delivering an episodic game series on a regular monthly schedule, along with 15 machinima shorts, is a first for the game industry,” said Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale. “GameTap’s subscription model for games-on-demand combined with GameTap TV makes it the perfect choice for distributing episodic content like Sam and Max.”

GameTap subscribers should mark their calendars with the following dates, when brand new Sam & Max content will launch on the network (titles of Episodes 2-6 and all animated shorts are TBD):

Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Sam & Max Episode 1 “Culture Shock”
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday October 26, 2006 Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday November 2, 2006 Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday November 9, 2006 Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday November 16, 2006 Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday November 23, 2006 Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, November 30, 2006 Machinima Short #1
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, December 7, 2006 Machinima Short #2
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, December 14, 2006 Machinima Short #3
Animated Series Cartoon

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Sam & Max Episode 2

Thursday, January 4, 2007 Machinima Short #4
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, January 11, 2007 Machinima Short #5
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, January 18, 2007 Machinima Short #6
Animated Series Cartoon

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Sam & Max Episode 3

Thursday, February 1, 2007 Machinima Short #7
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, February 8, 2007 Machinima Short #8
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, February 15, 2007 Machinima Short #9
Animated Series Cartoon

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Sam & Max Episode 4

Thursday, March 8, 2007 Machinima Short #10
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, March 15, 2007 Machinima Short #11
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, March 22, 2007 Machinima Short #12
Animated Series Cartoon

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Sam & Max Episode 5

Thursday, April 5, 2007 Machinima Short #13
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, April 12, 2007 Machinima Short #14
Animated Series Cartoon
Thursday, April 19, 2007 Machinima Short #15
Animated Series Cartoon

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Sam & Max Episode 6

Fifteen days after the initial premiere on GameTap, each episode of the season will be available for sale from the Telltale website for $8.95 each. The season also can be purchased in its entirety from Telltale for $34.95; those who opt to buy the whole season will be able to download each episode from Telltale’s website after GameTap’s exclusive period 15-day period ends.

In addition to the new season of Sam & Max and all the content that comes with it, GameTap gives subscribers unlimited access to more than 700 games at any time, along with over 600 original TV shows and videos that cater to fans of the video game lifestyle.

To register for GameTap, visit http://www.gametap.com where you can sign up for $9.95 per month, or take advantage of the limited time birthday deal: an entire year of GameTap for less than the price of one console game ($59.40).

About Sam & Max
Steve Purcell published “Monkeys Violating the Heavenly Temple” as his first Sam & Max comic in 1987. Sam & Max solved assorted crimes and mysteries as “Freelance Police” in their sturdy 1960 Black and White De Soto Adventurer from their home base in New York City. After a series of follow-up comic books, Purcell worked with a team at LucasArts to create the critically acclaimed “Sam & Max Hit the Road” adventure game in 1993. The dog and bunny duo moved to television, in an award-winning animated series in 1997 and are now appearing in an all-new webcomic series at http://www.samandmaxcomics.com.

About Telltale
Telltale delivers Tales for Your Imagination - high caliber interactive entertainment which features engaging stories, strong characters, and rich environments. A new era of interactive entertainment is emerging, with customers expecting more from their investment in play time. Telltale is developing and deploying cinematic quality animation and storytelling technologies, to create entertaining and exciting interactive adventures which meet these new expectations. Staffed with long time industry veterans, Telltale creates tales based on Jeff Smith’s Bone series, Steve Purcell’s Sam & Max characters and television’s popular CSI program in partnership with Ubisoft. Telltale offers content development and custom publishing services for license-holders interested in adapting their properties for interactive delivery. Telltale has created innovative tools, designed specifically for rapid development of high quality, space-efficient titles for digital distribution. Telltale titles can be downloaded from its website, as well as online partners such as Yahoo! Games, Direct-to-Drive, Trymedia Systems, Boonty, and CNET. To learn more about Telltale, please visit http://www.telltalegames.com.

About GameTap
GameTap is the leader in digital game distribution and broadband entertainment. Launched by Turner Broadcasting in 2005, it now delivers more than 700 authentic versions of the greatest console, computer and arcade games on demand, including original and exclusive episodic properties. In addition to games for every age and interest, GameTap offers more than 600 original entertainment programs, popular video streams and thriving virtual communities to broadband-connected PCs. Continually updated with new games, programs and features, GameTap is a downloadable application that supports navigation and game play using keyboard and mouse, as well as most USB peripherals. Go to http://www.gametap.com and expand your playground.

About Turner
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment products around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.