I went and generally the show didn't do a lot for me, since I'm not super interested in the game. The presentation was good, the hosts were doing their best, and I think fans who have been waiting so long will be really happy with all of the ancillary content. I'm a little embarrassed at how excited people in the audience were to see the stupid transforming car. Has it really come to this, people? The other lowlight was the Audi product placement. The hosts hated it, the audience hated it, and... the fucking car wasn't even there? What's the point? On the other hand, the combat looked much more fluid, and the Amano art was really beautiful on the big screen and outside on the big banner. Also the dialogue looked a little less nonsense than previous times, except for the headers on the final trailer.
But I have to say... I've seen or met a lot of famous and notable people in California, politics, writers, people from the entertainment industry, celebrities, and I don't think I've ever been as starstruck as I was to sit 20 feet from Sakaguchi. Wow. A real legend.
All Tabata's been doing for ages and ages was complain about how tough it was to get airships into the game. Then they show it off in probably the best way possible. There are a lot of hardcore fans there, so I think they took all that into context.
But yeah, Sakaguchi was the highlight of the conference. He's been weirdly enough liking Tabata's direction with the game for over a year now. I just hope what he said today was genuine. It seemed like it was, at least.