[Update - 8:45pm CST] Those that buy Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse directly from developer Telltale Games will also be eligible to receive those exclusive in-game items for Team Fortress 2, though the company notes "it won't be instant because our site really isn't set up yet to distribute them." Thanks Masem.

[Original] In an amusing bit of cross-promotion, those that buy Telltale's episodic adventure Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse PC via Valve's digital platform Steam will get three in-game items for Valve's class-based shooter Team Fortress 2 PC.

It's a limited promotion--the items only go to those who buy in the next week--with those that pre-purchased the $34.99 five-episode season via Steam getting the items too.

As for what those three unique items entail, let's turn things over to Valve:

Max's Severed Head

It's not often you're given the gift of a beloved character's decapitated head by the very studio responsible for that character. Still, we're not complaining. It's soft, it wicks away moisture in the heat of battle, it highlights our eyes. It's got us thinking about allthe other game characters we could be wearing around as clothes.

Max's Pistol

Who wouldn't want to squeeze off a couple rounds with the murder weapon of choice of a sociopathic cartoon rabbit? Probably quite a lot of people, when you get right down to it. Luckily, those people are all well-adjusted contributors to society with no police records, spotless credit ratings and few unresolvable moral failings. They also probably have no interest in playing TF2, so that means more murder-rabbit gun shooting for the rest of us.

Sam's Revolver

This might look like an ordinary revolver, until you realize that it helps a talking dog solve crimes. How many crimes has YOUR dog solved lately? And let's face it, his revolver kind of sucks too. Man, we want to talk about this gun more, but we can't get over how much your dog sucks.

"This wasn't some sort of premeditated middle finger from marketing," a Telltale representative wrote on its official forum in response to those that purchased the series directly from Telltale. "We... had a last-minute opportunity to do a cool thing with Valve and we jumped on it. Literally no earlier notice could have been given."

Added Telltale's Jake Rodkin:

The TF2 hats are exclusive to the Steam store. Telltale customers get the Collectors DVD, which is exclusive to the Telltale Store. Steam customers don't get the free physical copy, but they do get hats in Team Fortress.

If one of these two promos excites or upsets you to the point that you wish to switch to one or the other stores, write to support@telltalegames.com and someone can help you cancel or instate a TTG.com order.

We're investigating getting the TF2 stuff for you guys who bought the game direct from Telltale. Stay tuned.

Sam & Max: The Penal Zone, the first of the five episodes that make up The Devil's Playhouse, launched today, with the other four following monthly. Thanks valru.