The show felt more buttoned-up (and therefore more like other major award shows) than it has in past years. I like that. It's still weird to see so many awards being announced off-handedly and its unfortunate that my primary reason for watching was for announcements rather than the awards themselves (nevermind the fact that my desired announcements weren't made). Regardless, I appreciate the fact that the medium has a unified institution that is in charge of gathering a consensus.
In the future, I'd like to see the voting body broaden a bit. There are all manner of Critics' Choice awards out there, and there are some award shows that are fueled almost entirely by fan voting. I appreciate the fact that The Game Awards are a blend of both, weighted in favor of the former. I think that's good. What I'd like to see, however, is the inclusion of developers. I know that there would concern about stealing some of DICE's thunder, but I think it's weird that the only people involved in games that don't vote on these awards are the ones with the most intimate knowledge of them. Actors typically get a say in who they think the best actor is in any given year; it makes sense for, say, game writers, to have a significant say in what the best story of the year is. There's already a wide gulf between what critics enjoy and what fans enjoy-- instituting a developer voting pool would widen the net and allow an ever wider variety of games to be recognized.
In short, this was probably the best the show has been, but there's always room for improvement. All in all, the ratings reflect the improvement in quality. It's also fun to notice that TGA has a better track record on grand prize recipients than other industry awards show.
