"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."

Read more...

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."

Read more...

"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.

Read more...

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.

Read more...

Ubisoft announced its strategic acquisition of a the Paris-based developer Nadeo today along with the studio's multiplayer franchise "TrackMania." Claiming 700,000 unique players per month and 10 million registered user for the racing game, Nadeo was established in 2000 and brings an established name in online gaming to Ubisoft's fold. Ubisoft appropriately appears focused on that strength in its summary of the deal.

Read more...

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.

Read more...

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!

Read more...

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!

Read more...

The "epic combat" genre for the Wii may be getting a new contender from Ubisoft Montreal. Recent job listings for the Canadian studio list some provocative project descriptions for upcoming games there, including a potential Project Natal title, a multiplatform Wii/360 game and an existing property spin-off launch for the Wii. Some of the language is ambiguous to the point that there could be some overlap among the project descriptions, but Quebec definitely has a few fires burning behind the scenes right now.

Read more...