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Making a movie-based game is in many case just a chance to drum up some PR and marketing for the movie itself. That doesn't appear to be the case for developer Telltale Games' upcoming five-part adventure game series based on the classic Back to the Future movie trilogy. From what we can tell this game was made with lots of love of the original films (hey, even Christopher Lloyd is back voicing Doc Brown. Great Scott!)

Starting on Wednesday gamers head back to Hill Valley (what state is Hill Valley located in, by the way?) for the first episode. We catch up with the ultimate reluctant time traveller Marty McFly as he takes the DeLorean out on yet another 88 MPH trip back in time. In the first episode he heads to the 1930s to rescue his old friend and creator of time travel Doctor Emmett Brown, but first has to deal with a younger version of the Doc. This promises to be heavy.

Big Download got a chance to ask some questions to Telltale Games' co-designer and writer Andy Hartzell about the game ahead of its Wednesday launch for the PC and Mac. Will he tell us about all the time twists and turns in the game and working directly with the movie's co-screenwriter Bob Gale? Check after the jump to find out:

It's only been recently that developer Telltale Games has offered its titles for the Mac platform. Today the company announced that it is going back and porting one of its older games, Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, to Apple's machines (it's also coming to the PS3 on December 21).

Yes, Mac players will get the pleasure of encountering Strong Bad and other members of the wacky Homestar Runner web animated series in playable adventure game form with five episodes to try out. The game was first released for the PC and the Wii consoles over two years ago. There's no word yet on a specific release date nor pricing for the Mac port.

[Via email press release]

Developer Telltale Games has now released its latest game Puzzle Agent.making it available to purchase and download for the PC on their web site for $9.99. The single episode "pilot" for a new episodic adventure series is something a bit new for Telltale as this is both an original property (not based on a previous license like Sam and Max or Tales from Monkey Island) and also a try out to see if the game can support a full "season" of chapters.

Puzzle Agent mixes elements of X-Files and Twin Peaks as the player follows Nelson Tethers, a "puzzle agent" for the FBI, as he investigates and solves puzzles dealing with a mystery in Scoggins, Minnesota.

While we thought we would not get any details about Telltale Games' next project until May 4, it sounds like the developer gave some media outlets an early look Thursday at their next game project. The game is called Puzzle Agent and will be coming out for the PC and other platforms this June. It's the first game from Telltale in a kind of pilot program for new titles that take some chances. If the game is popular more episodes could be made.

IGN has more details and a couple of screenshots from the title which has the player taking on the role of an Agent who is investigating some odd goings on in the town of Skoggins, Minnesota. Naturally there are some puzzles to be solved. The game uses the art style of former Telltale team member Graham Annable who now works as a movie storyboard artist. More details about the game, including its price, will be revealed next week.

It's one of the worst weekends of the year; the weekend in between the NFC and AFC championship games and the Super Bowl. Sure there's the Pro Bowl but that game is worse to check out than a junior high league football matchup. However we do have one thing that will make the weekend cool; some great game sales including a way to get a PC game for free.

That free game offer comes from Telltale Games who, as we reported earlier today, is offering the first season of Sam and Max for just $4.95 from now until Sunday. Telltale is also giving folks a chance to get one free game episode from any of their many episodic titles if they complete an online survey. The survey should take five to 10 minutes to complete. The free game offer is valid until Telltale gets enough data from the survey so if you want your freebie you need to move quickly.

In other PC game sales news, Steam is offering two game bundles for just $2 each for this weekend. One is for the Freedom Force bundle (with both of Irrational Games' super hero RPG titles). The other is for the X-Com bundle (with all five games in the sci-fi series). In addition Tropico 3 is on sale this weekend for just $13.60. Finally, while not a weekend sale, Steam has added a new bundle to its lineup, the 1C Complete Collection. You can buy 17 games from 1C Company in this bundle and pay just $69.99 for the entire line-up.

Direct2Drive also has a weekend sale, as it takes off $5 from the recent action game Dark Void for this weekend only. The discount is valid if you put in the code 5OFFDARKVOID at checkout. And for the next week they have the first person shooter Red Faction Guerrilla for just $4.95.

As we mentioned earlier today, Telltale Games turns five years old this week and the game development studio made up of former LucasArts adventure game developers has been highly successful with its series of downloadable episodic adventure games. It's released two "seasons" of Sam and Max, plus a season of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Right now they are in the middle of its Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures series. Telltale states they have sold over one million PC game episodes since their launch.

While Telltale is running a new promotion designed to get new people to try out their games, they also revealed that a new game announcement will be made at this year's E3 event. There's no word yet on if the game will be a return to a past series or an all new game.

This trailer provides first looks at some of the gameplay adventure fans can expect from Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 2: The Last Resort. The game is available now through the TellTale Games official website and online retailers like Steam. Players can get a general sense of how the the game will play by downloading the Grand Adventures demo here.

"When unrelenting rain ruins their holiday plans, Wallace & Gromit bring the beach to 62 West Wallaby with a makeshift resort - in their basement. Keeping customers satisfied is tricky business, especially when one of them is clocked on the head by an unknown assailant. Whodunnit? Find out... with a little help from Wallace's latest invention, the Deduct-o-matic!"

Download HD Wallace & Gromit Episode 2: The Last Resort Trailer (166 MB)
Download the Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures Demo (138 MB)
Check out all Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures downloads

Telltale Games is perhaps the best known game developer that specializes in episodic games and today the developer has released the second chapter in their latest such game series Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures. The second episode, titled The Last Resort, is now available for purchase and download for $8.95

This second chapter, involving a makeshift basement beach resort, an assault on the head and something called the Deductomatic, will be followed up by two more episodes in June and July, respectively. Telltale will then offer all four episodes, plus extra content, on a disk for sale later in the year. In the meantime you can check out a demo from the first episode right here at Big Download.

This demo is for Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, a new monthly episodic game series developed by TellTale games based on the animated movies about an inventor and his dog. The demo includes a brief tutorial and parts from the first episode, Fright of the Bumblebees. Those that pre-order the four-episode season will receive a 25% discount in addition to two free games - one from the Sam & Max adventure series, the other from the Strong Bad series. Visit the official website for more information and purchasing options.

Download the Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Demo (138 MB)
Check out all Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures downloads

This trailer marks the debut of the new Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures series developed by TellTale Games. The new game series includes four episodes, each releasing monthly, except the first installment "Fright of the Bumblebees" will be releasing on March 24th instead of in April. Those that preorder the series will receive a 25% discount on top of getting two other TellTale games (Ice Station Santa from the Sam & Max series and Dangeresque 3: The Criminial Projective from the Strong Bad series) for free. Visit the official website for more infomation and purchasing options.

Download HD Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Trailer (113 MB)
Check out all Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures downloads