I can't decide whether Ubisoft's E3 strategy was good (20-minute James Cameron speeches notwithstanding) or bad.

Bad: They showed a couple of demos on impossible hardware that no gamer not named Richie Rich could afford.

Good: Yet here we are, talking about these demos still, a week after E3 2009, in articles, on podcasts, etc.

From a marketing and brand-awareness perspective, it's a job well done. From my wallet's perspective: cry.

Here's a closer look at three of the games in question, along with their pricey price tags if you're looking to experience them the same way as they were presented at E3:

This is, by far, the cheapest entry into Ubisoft's hi-tech lineup at this year's E3 -- all you need is a Wii Balance Board. And you do need a Balance Board. It's not required by any means, but it's not that remarkable of a game otherwise.

On the Balance Board, you can practically feel the edge-to-edge turning. Subtle shifts in weight over your feet translate into appropriate movement on-screen -- even half-pipe riding feels right. I only wish I was allowed to strap in and jump around on the Balance Board as if it were the real thing. Someone needs to make a snowboard controller a la Tony Hawk Ride.

World Stage is more focused on competitions now and is Wii-only. Which, if you've played the non-Wii versions last time, isn't exactly sad news.

Cost for normal gamer (game only): $40-50.

Additional cost for Richie Rich gamer (Balance Board via Wii Fit): $90.

This is only the start of crazy. Ubisoft originally introduced RUSE via a trailer showing two guys playing what seemed to be some sort of virtual reality real-time strategy game where everything was controlled by hands, not analog sticks and buttons. It all looked more 007 than 360, and viewers were left wondering what the heck Ubi was trying to peddle. Why show us something that sci-fi and unrealistic?

Turns out it wasn't false advertising after all -- you can play RUSE just like how the video shows. At E3, Ubisoft had the game running on a giant 40" IntuiFace tabletop touch-screen (pictured at the top of this story). The demo driver's fingers would dance all around the field of play, playing with the camera and going from a snake's view down at street level and zooming all the way up to near satellite altitudes. He'd then slide his units around effortlessly, like he was playing a hardcore strategy boardgame, only without the physical pieces for your cat to push out of place.

Fancy overgrown iPhone controls aside, the tactical possibilities seemed endless with that much camera manipulation. You can control the alleys and streets (like at the end of Saving Private Ryan), or you can see where the bottlenecks are between the mountain ranges.

We didn't get a chance to play RUSE to know how good it really is. More importantly, we didn't get a chance to play the normal television version of the game to know how good it'll be for us normal folk.

Cost for normal gamer (game only): $50-60.

Additional cost for Richie Rich gamer (touch-screen table): $20,000.

When a private demo requires you to check your bags and cell phones at the door, you know it's going to be big. And big it was: Ubisoft showed off a fully 3D (not just polygonal 3D, but pop-out-of-the-screen stereoscopic 3D, complete with special glasses) Avatar running on a -- get this -- a 103" Panasonic plasma HDTV with a prototype 3D processor. And because I was sitting about four feet away from the screen, I might as well have been staring right into the bright-ball center of the galaxy from the same distance away.

OK, Avatar has this Dances With Wolves-esque story involving a fascinating world filled with lush forests, floating land masses, colorful aliens, and of course, an evil corporation that wants to rape that fascinating world for its fascinating resources. And you can play on either side of the war in this third-person shooter.

But...103 inches! In real 3D! I could've spent another few hours in that room just watching individual leaf blades hitting the screen as the main character walked through the forest. I could've just let the demo driver go on and on, flying around endlessly through the trees. The 3D effects were intense and gorgeous, but it only made me mad in the end because I knew I had to go back home to my non-prototype-3D 56" HDTV. I felt like one of those guys in those Enzyte commercials -- the ones who aren't smiling.

To be clear, you do need a 3D-ready TV or monitor (plus special glasses) to get the in-your-face goodness.

Cost for normal gamer (game only): $50-60.

Additional cost for Richie Rich gamer (that monolithic TV, basing this price on other 103" plasmas): $50,000+.