Nerdcraft - Etsy Skyrim roundup

Sadly you can't be too topical with these. You need to let those crafty types go away and scheme and plot and knit furiously. Happily in this instance they've yielded some absolute gold, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't seriously considering a few. Or all of them.

Lets hang out below the break and exchange crochet patterns and plasticine!

Dawnguard! Skyrim DLC Trailer is Full of Manbats!

Whether you're an assassin, a werewolf, a wizard, or just like gathering and hoarding cheeses, the massive world of Skyrim is still a number one way to lose track of time. And we can all giddily anticipate investing many more hours in the freshly revealed DLC content Dawnguard which appears to trade dragons for a generous helping of manbats!

So it looks like players are being asked to choose between becoming a vampire hunter (Dawnguard?) or, to quote the charming and talented Corey Haim in Lost Boys, "a goddamn shit-sucking vampire."

I played a vampire all the way back in Oblivion so I already know that I'm Team Edward all the way! They're saying it will release in Summer, which is Winter in my part of the world, and will cost 1600 Xbox live points which, for most of us, is about as meaningful as saying it will cost 500 bananas and a handful of bottlecaps.

I cannot wait!

Doctor Who Meets Metal (And More)

What is better than the theme songs to Doctor Who, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Back to the Future, and Game of Thrones? When they are done in METAL

Watch the rest after the jump

The Great Battle of Skyrim

Here's a nicely staged and edited machinima battle made from Skyrim of 500 Draugr, 200 skeletons, 500 Dwarven Warriors and a dragon using mods and console commands

Definitely turn the vid up 720p to really appreciate the epic battle.

I wonder how powerful this guys computer rig must have been. I'm guessing it was something like this

(extra nerd points if you can guess where this is from)

115 Hours Later and I Finally Beat Skyrim

I'm not a hardcore gamer on a whole. I've been playing video games since my parents brought home a Nintendo w/Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Mike Tyson's Punch Out one day as a kid, but ever since college, really, gaming has been a hobby more than an obsession. This doesn't mean I don't have my moments - I've logged an embarrassing amount of time in Team Fortress 2, for example - but it's rare these days for a game to essentially take over my entire life.

Then came Skyrim.

I never played Oblivion, mostly because first person anything tends to rub me the wrong way. But I had some gift certificates, and the entire internet was going crazy over Skyrim, so I jumped on board. The next thing I know, my 12 day Christmas vacation from work involved putting in probably 50 hours into Skyrim, my wife started worrying for my sanity, and all was lost. After 115 hours, I finally beat it, though. I didn't finish everything, mind you - still some leftover quests and such, but the main quest and most of the side stuff is complete. I rarely accomplish that these days, even with immersive RPGs that I'm enjoying. And Skyrim left me with a lot on my mind.

Follow Friday(?) - Skyrim Mom!

Skyrim Mom is a Twitter account that compiles quotes from the mother of Bethesda's Nick Breckon. His mother is 65 years old, loved Red Dead Redemption, enjoyed Fallout 3 enough to make a spoon rest in tribute (pictured above), and is probably the cutest lil' dragonborn you're liable to hear about this week. If anything, she'll have a lot of stories to tell her Dovahkids about!

MOAR animated Skyrim

Here's another Skyrim video by Harry Partridge where Skyrim is an 80s cartoon

Here's a retro styled Skyrim video by Ross "RubberNinja" O'Donovan

I need to play this game...

Skyrim bonus post - Robbaz, King of Sweden

I got lost inside a Skyrim dungeon. I went to the internet for help and clicked on what I thought would be a helpful youtube walkthrough. Instead I encountered Robbaz, King of Sweden, and it made me dumber. But man was it worth it. NSFW for glowing viking balls.

The Skyrim Diaries: Eighty hours and counting

WAIT WAIT. Firstly I need to clarify that the Skyrim posts you've read thus far have been by Luke, who has been largely focusing on marrying a wench, killing elves and filling a house with cheese. I am not he. I have been playing this game, in earnest, for more than eighty hours now, and whilst I've only just managed to finish that central quest (YEEAAH) I still have what probably amounts to an additional 100+ hours of sidequests, quest chains, draconic Words of Power to find, cities to become the Thane of, battles to fight in, dragons to kick back into the well of eternity. Life is good.

So I thought I'd drop by to share my thoughts thus far on the game which ultimately I don't think anyone has a bad word to say about (I will try). Skyrim has redefined Epic, and the gaming world is almightily happy.

Additional thoughts after the jump...

My Skyrim Diary: I Will Fill My House With Cheeses!

It's been weeks since I shared my first Skyrim Diary where I regaled you with epic tales of bloodthirsty, horn-helmed adventure! And much has happened to my heavy eye-linered, alt rock, Nordic wench since then! Yes, I've become a werewolf, led the Companions, became a homeowner, joined the Thieves Guild, battle witches, pwned pirates, murdered dragons, and inadvertently managed to lose many very expensive horses.

But those are all run-of-the-mill experiences! Anybody can experience those, and I'll wager that many of you reading have already done just that! So what of the unique experiences - the adventures that were enjoyed by my character, and my character alone? Skyrim is a vast, open world and it was time for me to carve out my niche and find my own destiny! And then it hit me...

I will fill my home with an inordinate amount of cheese!

To read about my rapidly blossoming cheese empire, join me after the jump!

My Skyrim Diary: The Unexpected Threat That Nearly Ended it All!

While most AAA game releases these days favour a cinematic approach and continually hold the player's hand, along comes Skyrim - an epic, fantasy role-playing adventure that quickly let's go off your hand and pushes you into oblivion. You'll find yourself alone and unloved in a vast and intimidating open world, where the only person in control of your destiny is yourself. Skyrim is your oyster, and how you choose to explore, behave, interact and live is completely up to you, allowing each player a very personal and unique in-game experience.

I'm a mere level six young Nord who has really just started on my journey and yet I've already had some very memorable encounters. Here I will document the highlights of my first steps into a larger world, including the unforeseen and dangerous threat that nearly ended my Skyrim adventure entirely...

Pull up a seat by the campfire and join me after the jump...

How to steal in Skyrim

Hot dam! I shall use this trick when I steal buy the game

BREAKING NEWS: Skyrim has broken!!

Good Game's twitter account, @goodgametv , has announced that the Australian street date has been broken. IT'S ALIVE! Get to it!!

Skyrim animated cartoons by Harry Partridge

A new Skyrim cartoon by Harry Partridge

This was the first cartoon he did after just watching the trailer (a little nsfw)

He tweeted that there will be more to come.

Harry Partridge is a killer animator who's got a whole bunch of funny cartoons on his youtube channel that are definitely worth checking out.

Skyrim Live Action Trailer

Kinda puts Felica Days Dragon Age web series to shame, huh?

Skyrim Collectors Edition Contains Expensive Plastic Dragon. Plus Batman!

This is a day old, but hey - we're new to this. The full details of the Skyrim (Elder Scrolls V) collector's edition have been officially announced, not the least of which is a large plastic dragon (excuse me - high quality PVC) that looks spiky and heavy enough to club a burglar to death with.

The extremely-limited-and-won't-be-marked-down-during-the-post-christmas-sales-like-that-extremely-limited-version-of-Black-Ops-I-bought-with-the-remote-control-perv-mobile Collector's Edition contains:

- A 12 inch plastic dragon. This is particularly apt as the developers have been boasting that Skyrim will contain "unlimited dragons" as a direct response to games by other developers that had "limited dragons", "severely limited, bordering on scarce dragons", or "absolutely no dragons at all"