I was not really impressed by TASBlock this year, and actually stopped watching live during Portal (I did go back and scrub through the remainer later). I watch both speedruns and TASs, but steer clear of the planning threads and let myself be surprised.
-Total Control / ACE has run its course. We get it, you can program stuff through controller ports. Now, this CAN have some fun results, like Pokemon Plays Twitch (though this only worked because Twitch Plays Pokemon was already a thing) Mario Maker, and programming SMB1 into SMW, but the end result should first and foremost be ENTERTAINING, not simply technically impressive. This year it fell into the latter category, even with the end result of the video feed. While I was impressed on a technical level, I was not at all excited or entertained. I watch GDQ events to watch people PLAY video games, not program stuff. I do not care how much you can push the console hardware to its limits. I care about what you can do with the games itself. Less Tech Geekery, more video games.
-That being said, I'm not entirely against showing Total Control, but this year it took up a significant portion of the block and took FAR too long to get to the pay off. One I was disappointed at.
-I was glad Gradius made a return, and on an NES Mini, no less (despite the issues, but I think it helped to demonstrate how finely tuned timings and frame rules are, even when you have tools at your side to help). As much as part of me is glad you showed the whole run, at the same time, as an autoscroller it's simply too slow of a pace for this kind of event. You get points for the call back, but I'd steer away from auto scrollers in the future unless you can get something crazy to happen.
-That being the only real technical hiccup was a plus.
-Mario 64 and Portal were annoying to watch in such a small window, even though I knew exactly what was happening in Mario 64. The initial awe and end payoff after did not exonerate the poor viewing experience (and it's why I turned it off during Portal).
-That being said, Mario 64 would have been GREAT to run on its own on the actual console on a full screen. This is what I'd like to see more of from TASBlock: breaking of games that is impossible to do RTA.
-I would not be opposed to a sort of glitch exhibition of TAS only game breaking glitches, even if they have to be done via emulator playback (though preferably ones that have been console verified with evidence). You don't necessarily have to show an entire game to show how perfect inputs can absolutely break a game in unexpected ways and entertain people.
-How close are we to console verification on stuff like PC, TGX16, Playstation, etc? I would very much like to see some of the less common consoles being utilized for a future TASBlock, if at all possible. If you want to show off something different (even if more Total control), don't start with the same old tricks; do something entirely new from start to finish.
Now, I'm not trying to downplay the hardwork that went into all this by my criticisms. But in all honesty, and this opinion is solely my own, if at all possible, I'd take a look at how much of your audience has viewing expereinces with TASs, and those who haven't (otuside of GDQ). I get the vibe that you're trying to cater too much to the former and not bog them down with content they've liekly seen before, rather than entertaining the audience as a whole. This is an event where people happily donate money to watch people run video games. That's what they're entertained by. While I understand the mentality of "and now for something completely different that sets what we do apart!", I feel that the use of Total Control/ACE as a whole has overstayed its welcome, and that the basics of what makes GDQ what it is has been shoved aside in favor of a tech show off. You keep pushing to try to outdo yourselves, without realizing that you've reached a point where you are now overdoing it. "logical conclusion" or not, it's simply not what I came for.
That all being said, I look forward to what you have planned for SGDQ.
