When I say Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception has the best stereoscopic 3D presentation I've seen so far, I don't mean to imply that I'll shut my laptop after I complete this sentence and dash out the door to buy a 3DTV (an inconsiderate and fatal idea, given that I'm writing this from inside an airplane). The work done by Naughty Dog, with 3D incorporated from an early stage of development, is not an effective sales pitch for the technology -- and that's why it's good. The effect is subtle, unobtrusive, useful, and very distant from the eye-blasting nonsense of what you would derisively label a "sales pitch."

Kneeling on the floor in front of a large 3D television, Naughty Dog co-founder Evan Wells appears childlike and completely involved as he marches Nathan Drake through the burning chateau, a now-familiar venue for Uncharted 3 gameplay demos. As Drake and stubborn sidekick Sully attempt to escape, the heat of the flames racing them to the top of the building, they're forced across a wooden beam that's fallen between the crumbling remnants of a floor. "This an inner ear thing?! Let's go!" Drake yells from the other side, firing at thugs as Sully slowly -- like, slowly -- walks and wobbles to the end of the beam. This is an interesting, tense scene regardless of your television, and in 3D it's very easy to gauge Sully's distance at a glance. That's not exactly mind blowing, I know, but I'd rather take a sliver of contextual usefulness over an in-your-face cheese slap.