Another year, another Game Awards under our belts.

I feel like the show is still finding its footing, but I’m ever so glad it exists and that Geoff Keighley works so hard to make it a reality. Publicly showing appreciation for games, and the people who create them, is a wonderful thing, and I never tire of people getting the recognition they deserve.

There are a couple of ways I think the show could improve though:

Eliminate Handing Out Awards Prior To The Actual Show
It diminishes the award and the recipient and just comes off as awkward and slapdash.

Present All Awards Onstage And After Reading All Nominees In Said Category
I feel they should allow the appropriate parties to ascend the stage and give their acceptance speeches. They have come so far and worked so hard, it seems only fair.

Fill More Seats
The game industry is unbelievably massive. I am certain if tickets were readily available to the public, a considerable portion of those seats would be filled. I’m not sure why so many seats are empty each year, but it baffles me each time.

Eliminate The Standing Area At The Front Of The Stage
They should eliminate the standing area and plop down an orchestra. And speaking of plopping down an orchestra, it would be nice to see a category for best score. As someone who is big into video game scores and soundtracks, I’d love to see some attention given to that area. It would be lovely to hear the orchestra playing bits from each of the nominated games throughout the evening.

I’m sure there are reasons these things don’t happen, but I can dream.

That being said, I will gladly move along to the highlights (for me). Game Informer had an excellent rundown of the night’s events, but here are my favorites:

Kojima’s Death Stranding Trailer
I still have no idea what is actually happening in Death Stranding, and I love it. I love the vibe, the imagery, and the promise of what’s to come. It’s fascinating.

More, more, more.

Inside Winning Best Art Direction
Inside is a game that has stayed with me well after the credits rolled, and I was exceedingly glad to see it win for best art direction. Though, to be fair, I’d have been just fine no matter who won in this category; all the games nominated were stunning, individually.

That Dragon Cancer Winning In The “Games For Impact” Category
It’s not often that I am in tears before someone presents their acceptance speech, but just watching Ryan Green take the stage made me emotional. His words were all moving, but none so much as, “It was not the story we wanted to tell.”

Powerful, powerful words.

The Prey Trailer
Prey is a game I’ve been interested in since its original announcement, and the new trailer looks more than promising. I don’t know exactly what is happening, but it’s got the faintest whiff of BioShock mixed with space adventures.

I’m down for that. And I’m looking forward to Game Informer’s coverage of it in their upcoming issue.

With that I ask: if you tuned in to the show, what were your favorite moments?