"Assassin's Creed 2" features a character that may remind you of a certain mushroom-loving plumber. Check out the video above for his amusing introduction. I guess you could consider it an easter egg-ish spoiler, but it has no direct connection to the game's plot, so no worries there.

When Ubisoft dropped "Assassin's Creed" in late 2007, people were confused. On the one hand, here was this stunningly gorgeous open world with nooks and crannies galore, a cast of thousands and simple controls that made both exploration and combat a joy to experience. On the other hand, you had to deal with a fundamentally flawed progression through the story built upon a series of repetitive acts. What's more, the story itself wasn't related particularly well. As enjoyable as it was to free-run your way through the Crusades-era Holy Lands, much of what was built around the core gameplay mechanics flat-out didn't work.

Enter "Assassin's Creed 2."

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The ESRB pointed its finger at sexual content when it placed a Mature rating on "Assassin's Creed 2," and the spoiler-laden explanation they gave goes into even further detail. The new sequel has apparently bolstered its content with "sexual overtones" and at least one "seduction mini-game."

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"Assassin's Creed 2" may be a couple of short weeks away from its North American release, but those weeks are going to seem extra long for anyone who expected to see a demo available between now and November 17. The game promises to feature Kristen Bell, "a bit of sex" and achievements and trophies. What it will not feature, however, is an advance demo that's downloadable for the public.

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Achievement and trophy hunters the world over are breathing a sigh of relief over what appears to be the official list for "Assassin's Creed 2." The first game featured some of the most infuriating achievements, requiring you to hunt down hundreds of worthless flags and evil Templars. This time around it appears the achievements are more story related and manageable, with just one collect-a-thon in the form of missing feathers.

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Kevin Shortt (that's two T's for the price of one!) wrote the script for "Avatar: The Game." While set in the same universe as James Cameron's flick, the game is actually a prequel, featuring a totally different hero and storyline. In a trip up to Ubisoft Montreal we spoke with Kevin about the overall story, as well as his reaction to first hearing the whole people-in-cat-bodies concept.

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Kristen Bell played a techie in the first "Assassin's Creed," operating the machine that would allow Desmond to travel back into his DNA memory and experience the life of an assassin in the Middle Ages. And guess what? She's back!

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For those not in the know, a foley artist is responsible for making many of the sound effects you hear in games. Doors closing, guns reloading, brains getting splattered. The work is done in a small audio studio which a bunch of, well, junk.

Tchae Measroch (please don't ask me to pronounce it) is the foley artist at Ubisoft Montreal. You'll be hearing a lot of his hard work in "Assassin's Creed 2" and the upcoming "Avatar" game. We got a sneak peak at his studio, and he shared his secrets with us in the video above. Sorry for the shaky cam...a bit too much coffee this morning.

Bonus vid after the break!

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We already knew that "Assassin's Creed 2" has some sex talk and cartwheels, but it looks like the game will be able to pull coins from the PSP as well. New box images from the "Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines" PSP Entertainment Bundle leaked a few new details about what the game will be able to do when you put it in communication with "Assassin’s Creed 2" on the PS3. In addition to transferring currency and weapons to the PS3, "Bloodlines" will also be able to receive blade and health upgrades from its big console brother.

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Everyone's freaking out about this quote on VG247, in which the "Assassin's Creed 2" game direction, Benoit Lambert, stated the following:

"Ezio is a womaniser...there’s a bit of sex. I can’t say more."

Thankfully I can say more, as I've seen the exact bit of sex he's talking about, which demonstrated at an event up at Ubisoft Montreal.

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