@Buzzkill said:

Since Syrim's launch, friends on my steam list have accumulated over 350+ hours of playing time and a regularly see between half and a dozen people playing it nightly.

I'm still waiting for the bug fixes, mods, and dlc to be bundled. It took a year for new vegas, but there's plenty in the meantime to keep me busy.

Also, when I see big sales numbers these days I say "big woop" because there's about 20 million more gamers in the world now than a decade ago. What frightens me is as these AAA titles pull in some real digits, greedy corporate types who were never interested in games (only making money) will swarm the industry and try to take it over hostilly.

Uhm maybe you haven't noticed... but the "greedy corporate types" allready took over the gaming industry 5-7 years ago depending on what publisher/company you look at even earlier.

Or why do you think we get allways the same game genres with basicly allways the same gameplay while niche genres like simulations are by now basicly extinct?

Because if you work in gaming today, it's not about beeing creative or realizing your ideas anymore. It's mostly about the bottom line, does the concept sell? What market does it buy? Has the market actual buying power? The creative types are still the workforce, but the people in control are the beancounters and suits that don't understand a thing about gaming or creativity.

I mean just take a look at what vivendi did recently... they pushed off a huge package of activision shares ($450 million) so they can buy some music rights and stay on their credit rating, their timing couldn't even be more perfect... just when MW3 got released and activision stock reached record highs because of all the media attention and the great sales. Needless to say the stock fell like a stone after this, screwing over all the small invenstors.

These gaming companies and publishers are allready just liquid assets to the big financial players out there. And these are the very same people responsible for the last finnancial crisis, they will also be responsible for the next one that will hit us soon...

@AlexW00d: @AlexW00d said:

@Mordi said:

@Cybexx said:

Now the thing I find interesting is that we don't know if these numbers include the Steam sales or not, they probably do but you don't really "Ship" a digital release [...]

According to a video game journalist here in Norway, it doesn't include Steam-sales.

It doesn't, steam very rarely discloses it's sales numbers.

Well they don't publicly release their sales numbers but publishers know how many copies of their own games they have sold. So its up to Zenimax to decide if they want to include those in their sales numbers.

@Underwhelmed said:

@fisk0: Because all games played on anything besides a PC are trash by definition whenever you ask a PC-warrior Luddite.

Well, I'm all for PC gaming (really curious to see if and how mod support on the console versions will be implemented), I was trying to figure out if there was something in particular that would make the PS3 version worse than the 360 version though, so far all the major issues I've heard of have been 360 specific (other than that the UI isn't very well suited for keyboard+mouse on PC), I've seen some texture issues on the PS3, but that's only been "hey, this takes ridiculously long time to load in", rather than "this doesn't load in at all" as on the 360. Shadows might be a bit wonkier than on 360 I guess, haven't watched much of how they look on 360, but I know some people complained that the shadows looked worse on PC than on 360, and, well, the PS3 shadows aren't great looking, but haven't stood out when compared to footage from the other platforms.

@Voxel:

I used the be amongst the best consumer Bethesda had, until I took a sword to the chest.

They deserve every single penny!

Soon I will surrender my soul to Skyrim, but not until after Christmas.

There's something weird happening in this thread, but I'm not quite sure what.

-__- thanks to bethesda i now have a game i can never really complete the completetionist in me is sitting in a corner sobbing quietly.

on topic good news cant wait to see what they do next

Glad to hear it's a hit. Not that surprising considering Bethesda's RPG pedigree. So far, I'm loving Skyrim. A lot of my complaints about Oblivion were addressed in this game. I'm also impressed by how well the PC version performs out of the gate. A wise move on Bethesda's part, their recommended system specs are definitely on the conservative side. My machine is 5 years old with a standard 260 GTX inside. I was content to play it on High, but it as it turns out, it runs on Ultra just fine without AA.

@fisk0: I have been playing the PC version, and overall I haven't had any problems with it. Obviously this varies a lot from system to system. I hadn't heard about the shadows issue being worse on the PC, only that you can pretty easily edit the ini and improve them beyond what the launcher will allow. I would say that if you can play it on the PC, you should get that version. I have a 2 year old quad core with only a Radeon 4850 (and running Vista!) and I am getting 60 fps indoors and never less than 45 outdoors on high even with filtering and AA turned up. I have heard of people with much better systems having issues though so YMMV.

@Buzzkill: They haven't already? Good point though.

@juanjones said:

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Guys with this kind of job I could buy Skyrim and Call of Duty!!!!!!!!

PS. Please ban this guy.

i'm willing to be the average skyrim owner has put it considerably more enjoyed hours into skyrim than the average mw3 player. its a really good thing i skipped out on cod this year.

@fisk0: Some rumblings I've heard about, may not be PS3 specific, but I know most reports are on PS3: If your save file begins to get over 5mb, (5.3 or 5.5 has been the average on the bethesda forums) the game starts to drop frame rate and get incredibly laggy, like fallout 3 used too. I personally can't say it myself, as I play on PC, and I've only had 2 crashes so far, from a texture error of sometype that eventually CTD'd the game. Lots of people are starting to report the memory issue though, so consoles beware. :/ Have a look at the skyrim official forums though, it's starting to crop up more and more I guess.

For a second, i thought this said Skylanders.

I'm 25 hrs into the game and this is definitely the best game I've owned since Fallout 3.

GO BETHESDA!!! Fuck Activision and CoD. 28 hours in, level 21 and barely done any of the story, awesome, fantastic game, one of the best I've played in a long time

I can't believe I've already played this game over 25 hours. I loved every bit of it. I'm working through the mage guild stuff which turns out is pretty good!

I'm a little surprised a full loot-based RPG is able to sell those kind of numbers though (no, I'm not really). I thought that's why loot went away in Mass Effect? People didn't like loot and gear management? Wooops bioware.

More people showed up for the Skyrim release then the MW3 release at my local EB, during the rain even. There were significantly less re-res and kids there as well.

I picked up both games, and IMHO Skyrim > MW3. One is fun, and one is not.

I was playing earlier and all my online friends (Steam) were playing it.

Good. Skyrim is a great game. Great games should make lots of money.

As much as Patrick enjoys jerking off Bethesda, the idea that there's a negative correlation between Skyrim and Call of Duty sales seems a little ridiculous. The markets aren't even the same and I highly doubt people were having to decided between an extremely mainstream and popular shooter or a epic fantasy-RPG. Either way the game is excellent and has done extremely well but I wouldn't put too much weight on the "OMFG IT ALMOST BEAT CALL OF DUTY" argument.

Nice to see the game is "expected" to sell well. Maybe they'll use that money to patch the game ASAP. The texture issue is terrible for me, and I'm running it from the disk. Otherwise, it's a lot of fun doing any number of the hundreds of things available. Just managed to reach level 40 for Archery and unlocked the slow-mo perk - killing bandits at half the speed is twice as much fun.

And blah. Another Patrick article, another attempted swipe at Call of Duty. If only there was a way to filter certain editors from appearing in my news feed :|

@tourgen said:

I can't believe I've already played this game over 25 hours. I loved every bit of it. I'm working through the mage guild stuff which turns out is pretty good!

I'm a little surprised a full loot-based RPG is able to sell those kind of numbers though (no, I'm not really). I thought that's why loot went away in Mass Effect? People didn't like loot and gear management? Wooops bioware.

Bioware is... hmm. I'd like to think what happened to them is a product of misinterpretation of their previous game usage stats (certain percentage only play male Shepard, certain percentage get confused by inventory management, certain percentage skip through dialogue etc), and buckling under the pressure of a major publisher who wants MORE MORE MORE WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MAKE US MORE $$$! Bioware is attempting to get maximum sales across the largest possible cross section of gaming consumers. As always, the backlash to that is disenfranchised fans of your old games refusing to continue buying the new different ones that no longer appeal to their tastes. Or worse, producing a game that makes just about everyone dissatisfied by doing a lot of things, but nothing particularly well. Bioware would be wise to look to other developers who have made a name out of doing one thing, their thing, really really well without apology or concession (Blizzard, Valve, Bethesda). Or perhaps the company has undergone an identity crisis and they don't know what their niche is anymore. Maybe they forgot the formula that made them popular in the first place.

Thoroughly deserving of its success. It's great to know that a game like this can still do tremendous numbers.

It's a nice surprise of a success story, I'm glad to hear that launch date worked out for them, cause I thought it was gimmicky and somewhat troublesome to launch near MW3 on 11.11.11.

I have a passion about this game that never seems to happen with me these days. I never get so enraptured with video games.

Its nice to see a game like this beat MW3, it shows what people really want.

Once, a long time ago, there was a great developer. It was only known as BioWare, it released such classics as Baldur's Gate, KOTOR and Neverwinter Nights. Even it's newer RPGs, like Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins were great. But then...then came Mass Effect 2. And after that Dragon Age 2. Now, a new dawn beckons, and new developers take BioWares place. We greet you Bethesda and CD Projekt Red.

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

Once, a long time ago, there was a great developer. It was only known as BioWare, it released such classics as Baldur's Gate, KOTOR and Neverwinter Nights. Even it's newer RPGs, like Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins were great. But then...then came Mass Effect 2. And after that Dragon Age 2. Now, a new dawn beckons, and new developers take BioWares place. We greet you Bethesda and CD Projekt Red.

Mass Effect 2 was awesome, so I'm confused by that last bit... The last last bit made sense because Bethesda and CD Projekt Red are cool too.

Give them one last chance TDoG, maybe they just had a couple of hiccups, regardless of EA.

Fuck the 360 version. Check out the business it's doing on Steam and concurrent players.

The line at Gamestop for the midnight release was around the block by 11 where I'm at. This is a Gamestop in the crap suburbs (moved here from the city (Boston), and I hate it, so dull), not in a major location.

Skyrim is by far the best game that came out this year. Even though I love this shit out of Battlefield 3 as well. In fact, Skyrim is one of the few games these last few years that actually managed to suck me in completely. Games hardly seem to do that anymore to me. And it feels freaking awesome. I don't see any other game coming near Skyrim for a GOTY award.

It's really good to see this game getting some recognition by the main stream audience.

Call of Duty is unique across all media. Comparing any game, let alone any other form of media, to it is a futile process. That said, Bethesda made the right call raising the middle finger to MW3 and dropping 11/11/11. Very bad ass.

Very well deserved success. I'm actually suprised by how much of an improvement Skyrim is over their previous titles.

Good job, Bethesda.

@Underwhelmed said:

@fisk0: Because all games played on anything besides a PC are trash by definition whenever you ask a PC-warrior Luddite.

PC Luddite?

Wow. Just... wow.

I love Bethesda.

I've got more friends playing Skyrim than MW3 every night right now. That is what truly shocks me.

I found MW3 disappointing and Skyrim AMAZING.. so this makes sense. Headline could be "people decide to buy a good game"

...you guys should play Saints Row.

EDIT: To be less goofy, I'm anticipating going into Skyrim at some point. As well as Modern Warfare 3. Because Saints Row: The Third is eating me alive right now.

Awesome, my $60 went towards it!

And they do not look back on the time they spent in my wallet with anything but contempt!

Bugs and technical issues aside this game is fucking amazing, money well spent.

I think Dave said this on the pre-marathon stream, but it's great that large, hardcore games like this can still be successful in today's market which is largely based around multiplayer games.

I bought two copies.  I gave my PS3 copy to my roommate after I caved and bought the Steam version for midnight access.  We've been completely stationary for the past week playing nothing but Skyrim.  The ambient music is stuck in my head when I'm not playing.  I've told a few people that my thu'um is strong.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 be damned, November 2011 will long be remembered as the release window for Skyrim long after MW3 has been surpassed.

I should probably buy this, huh. And then take off two straight weeks from work.

I usually wait on price drops, but this game is so fantastic that I gladly spent the full $60 on it... good job Bethesda! (I also got the game guide, something I told myself I'd never waste my money on...) XD

@frondoni said:

If you "cannot understate" something, that means it wasn't really all that important.

yeah.. not to be a grammar nerd, but it should read "cannot overstate".

bought a 360 version, then got the PC one for free, Bethesda insider ftw

I have each console, but went for PC here. For one, Bethesda has a history of buggy console releases, where often thanks to the community of PC users playing Bethesda games, quick fixes to otherwise crippling bugs are available without waiting for a patch. Patches are faster to deploy as well, but in this case, most issues and crashes are fixable with some system tweaks.

That said, I do play the game with an Xbox 360 controller.

And on console? I congratulate Bethesda for going to the effort of optimizing the game so incredibly well that it fit onto one DVD for the 360 version. Steam's download is only 6GB, as opposed to other recent games with lesser graphical detail coming in at over twice that size. I won't accept any excuse for two discs on 360 short of massive amounts of cutscenes now, because with the texture detail on the PC version, and the immense amount of voicework, it is clear that any current game should fit onto a DVD without issue, if the developer invests the time into optimizations.