Telltale announces Xbox Live® Arcade debut with episodic Wallace & Gromit series

Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures brings all-new stories, characters, and contraptions to Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PC this spring



SAN RAFAEL, CA, February 4, 2009 - Interactive entertainment pioneer Telltale, Inc. today announced that their highly-anticipated episodic series, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, will lead the company's expansion to Xbox LIVE Arcade this spring. Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures will also be available for PC.



Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures will deliver all of the humor and charm of the duo's popular animated films, with a monthly series of brand new interactive stories in Telltale's unique episodic format. Alternating between the roles of quirky inventor Wallace and his faithful canine companion Gromit, players embark on their own style of entrepreneurial business ventures, tinker with creative contraptions, and interact with an ever-expanding cast of fun and endearing characters in each episode.



"Our episodic series focus on story, character, humor, and cinematic presentation—very much like a television or film production. This all makes for a great living room experience through the gaming console," says Telltale CEO Dan Connors. "We're looking forward to expanding our catalog onto Xbox LIVE Arcade."



The series' launch follows the record-setting Christmas Day premiere of Aardman's new Wallace & Gromit short film, "A Matter of Loaf and Death," the most watched TV program in the United Kingdom on Christmas Day with 14.3 million viewers. The film also recently won an Annie Award for Best Animated Short and secured a BAFTA Award nomination in the same category.



Showcasing visuals modeled closely after franchise originator Aardman Animations' clay creations, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures is Telltale's most cinematic series to date, immersing fans in the stories and interactions with the colorful personalities of West Wallaby Street. The game also features a new direct control scheme for gamepads, designed specifically for Xbox.



Telltale has become the industry leader in regularly delivered episodic games, with the release of two award-winning Sam & Max series and most recently, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. The Strong Bad series became the first monthly episodic set for a connected console, with the finale episode releasing in December on WiiWare and PC. Telltale plans to announce additional titles for Xbox Live Arcade in the coming months. For more details about Telltale's games and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, please visit http://www.telltalegames.com.





About Wallace & Gromit



Wallace

An endearing and affable inventor. Ever enthusiastic, Wallace's hair-brained, over-ambitious, yet well intentioned ideas consistently get him and his faithful hound into trouble. A definite penchant for cheese and crackers, not to mention fashionable knitwear!



Gromit

Wallace's long-suffering loyal pooch. Gromit cares greatly for Wallace even though he's often railroaded into his master's mad-cap plans. Though cultured and sensitive, preferring order and the quiet life, Gromit displays amazing courage and heroism when it comes to getting his master out of self-made scrapes. Always showing astonishing initiative, Gromit is definitely the intelligent one of the pair.



About Telltale, Inc.



Telltale is a pioneer of new forms of interactive entertainment that build upon strong foundations in traditional and new media. Founded in 2004 by video game industry veterans with decades of experience, Telltale has quickly become the leading online episodic gaming publisher and developer, delivering award-winning interactive experiences that showcase engaging stories, compelling characters, and rich worlds. Telltale has created a regular, ongoing schedule of established online episodic series across all major gaming and entertainment platforms and channels.



Telltale's games include the award-winning Sam & Max episodic series; Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, the first episodic series for WiiWare based on the Homestarrunner.com Flash cartoons; and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, coming soon to Xbox Live Arcade and PC. Telltale also has created games based on television's popular CSI series in partnership with Ubisoft, and on Jeff Smith's epic Bone graphic novels. Telltale has built a robust digital distribution channel at www.telltalegames.com, and also publishes its games with select partners.



About Aardman



Aardman, based in Bristol (UK), co-founded and run by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is a world leader in animation. It produces feature films, television series and television commercials for both the domestic and international market. The studio has won over 400 international awards including 4 Oscars®.



Aardman's multi-award winning productions are novel, entertaining, brilliantly characterised and full of charm that reflects the unique talent, energy and personal commitment of the very special people who make up the Aardman team. The studio's work is often imitated and yet the company continues to lead the field producing a rare brand of visually stunning and amusing independent and commercial productions. www.aardman.com