Ubisoft is one of the big three video-game publishers, and it’s getting bigger all the time. With some Cracker Jack franchises in its portfolio, there was great potential for its E3 media event yesterday evening (June 1).

After a trailer of upcoming Ubisoft games, actor and comedian Joel McHale took the stage. He joked that his two kids were a regret because they cut into his gaming time. He was funny without being insulting—the guy’s a gamer after all—and was a quick-talking and affable host for the event.

Then we got Yves Guillemot, president and CEO of the France-based publisher. He talked about media convergence, and said that what was interesting to him was the cultural impact of convergence, to create bridges between creators and audiences.

He went on to talk about the technology that Ubisoft has implemented that enables them to create games and movies at the same time.

Uplay is a new service from the publisher that launches at the end of the year, and includes on-line sharing of content, FAQs, and downloadable content.

Guillemot then referenced James Cameron, who’s movie Avatar is being simultaneously developed as a game by Ubisoft. And Peter Jackson, whose King Kong remake was also a game from Ubisoft, will have his upcoming movie Tintin adapted.

Yannis Mallat, president of the Ubisoft Montreal studio, was next on stage. The publisher’s best games are coming from Montreal these days, and Mallat had lots to share.

Ubisoft Digital Arts is the new division of the company that is effectively a new production pipeline, bringing together games and movies.

The collaboration with James Cameron has been phenomenal, said Mallat, and the UDA facility is actually developing shots that Cameron will be using in his film, Avatar .

UDA is also developing a technical process that will enable artwork created for games to be used in the creation of movies. Coming this fall are short films based on the Assassin’s Creed 2 universe that were created in part with the art assets created for the game.

Ubisoft is becoming a “full 360-degree content provider, and the true convergence is the one that happens in people’s minds when they experience our intellectual property,” said Mallat.

His appearance had been hinted at, but when Cameron actually took the stage there was great applause. Cameron was on hand to talk about Avatar, the game. He mentioned that he wrote the treatment for the game 14 years ago, but the technology to make the game didn’t exist, so it got shelved. The Avatar story takes place in the 22nd-century on Pandora, a large, Earth-like moon of a gas-giant planet. Avatars in this story are living, breathing creatures that are controlled by a human driver with their consciousness connected.

Cameron said that the film was way beyond anything he’d done before, having already taken four years— Titanic took two—and it gets released on December 18. “Viewing Avatar ,” Cameron said people have told him, “is like being in a dream state.”

Cameron was effusive in talking about Ubisoft as his collaborative partner in creating the video game adaptation of the film. Most games from movies “suck,” said Cameron, “and I didn’t want anything to do with Avatar to suck.”

Ubisoft got access to all the CG assets from the film, and Cameron has taken elements from the game and inserted them into his film project. The game, he said, has its own story lines and plots that mirror the themes of the film.

And like Cameron’s film, the game is also being presented in stereoscopic 3-D, too, which is amazing.

We didn’t see any footage from Avatar the game, which was disappointing, but I’ll be seeing the game in the days to come.

Instead, we saw clips from the Wii exclusive Red Steel 2, which looks great, and hopefully will respond better than the first one. It makes use of the Wii MotionPlus—to be bundled with the game—which means that the force of sword slashes can be measured. The new game is set in the desert and stars a katana-wielding gunslinger.

Shaun White Snowboarding is back with a Wii-exclusive sequel: World Stage. It’s coming this fall.

The next sports title from Ubisoft to be talked about was Academy of Champions, and this game came with an appearance by Pele himself, perhaps the world’s greatest footballer. Pele is the headmaster in the game from Ubisoft Vancouver which resembles the world of Harry Potter. Through an interpreter, the Brazilian talked about how excited he was to be a part of the project. Pele said that football gave him everything, and he talked about how the sport is a way of connecting, a way of communicating.

There was great response from the crowd to the footage from Academy of Champions and it looks like the first game from Ubisoft Vancouver might be a hit.

We’d already seen footage from the new Splinter Cell: Conviction at the Xbox briefing because the game is exclusive to the Microsoft platform. The franchise was a pioneer of the stealth genre but in this game, the creative director said, stealth would only be one way to play. Sam Fisher, elite agent, has left the agency he was working for and is operating independently and with emotion. The new feature that was demonstrated here was called “last known position” which is a way of attracting enemies to the last place they saw you before you entered the shadows and became hidden. It’s Splinter Cell redefined, and it looks amazing.

Ruse is a new entrant in the real-time strategy field. There was a great promotional video for the game, but other than that there was little detail about the upcoming title.

The casual titles and the games for kids were next to be unveiled, served up with a little chest thumping from Tony Key about the success of Ubisoft’s Imagine brand of games for tweens. Style Lab is a new franchise for the brand, joining the popular Petz. It allows players to do things like design clothing and jewelry.

And because the fastest growing segment of the video game market is fitness, Ubisoft is innovating in that genre. By using a USB-enabled camera connected to the Wii, the new title Your Shape will scan your body, will propose a training regimen, and will provide a virtual trainer. And you’ll receive feedback on your movements because you’ll be able to see yourself on screen. It means hands-free workouts, and it’s coming this holiday season.

In Rabbids Go Home, the wacky rabbit-like creatures have decided to go home, and they’ve decided the moon is that place. The creatures’ plan is to collect stuff using a shopping cart and build a big pile of stuff that will reach the moon. The Wii exclusive is fun and funny, and in this game you’ll personalize your own crazy rabbid. In terms of objective, it seems much like Katamari Damacy, with you steering a shopping cart around environments and collecting things.

Next to be introduced was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up, a fighting game from the studio that created Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Nintendo.

Ubisoft has also secured the North American rights to No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, from legendary game designer Suda51. The company is also working on a project with the creator of Lumines and Rez.

By this time, the press conference had been going for about two hours—too long, Ubisoft!—but nobody wanted to leave because we were all waiting to see Assassin’s Creed 2.

When Assassin’s Creed 2 was mentioned, it barely got a response because the crowd was so weary. The sequel, to be released on November 17, is set in Italy in 1486. The trailer we saw was breathtaking, with the city of Venice rendered with exquisite detail.

And with that, the Ubisoft briefing came to an abrupt end. They realized, it seemed, that the event ran too long. Just like the Oscars.

Last night’s big event was the Activision party celebrating Guitar Hero and the upcoming DJ Hero. Today, it’s back to the press events.