And the game of the year is...SKYRIM. Plus the trailer for the HOBBIT

So I've been playing Skyrim on the weekends. My character is level 12, and I've killed three dragons now. I just wanted to post some screenshots for you because I think the game is so visually stunning. Note: You can click any of these to make them bigger. And yes, this is really what the game looks like through and through. Clouds move, I get stuck in blizzards, I hear footsteps coming up behind me, shadows change, day turns to night, etc. It's completely engrossing and has really consumed my writing/reading time. But truthfully, I'd rather play Skyrim than read 90% of the fantasy that is presently being written. It's like being in your own "visually stunning" book.  I read somewhere that it broke a billion dollars in just a couple of weeks. Pretty amazing if you ask me. Some of you may ask, why are guys not reading? Well the answer is in these screenshots. Boys eat this stuff up.

This is me and Lydia (the girl on the left) climbing the steps of the highestmountain in the world to consult with the mysterious Greybeards about magic.Not far from us is a badass ice troll that I finally killed by burning him downwith magic flames from my fingertips. Note the beautiful mountains. And yesthe clouds do move in front of the mountains sometimes obscuring them.

This here is actually Lydia and I after having killed said ice troll in the abovecaption. We climbed the rest of the way without my horse that got spookedand ran off.  The encounter with the Greybeards was fascinating as they taughtme how to use my Dragon Voice.

A dragon that I killed in single-hand combat. It swooped out of the sky at mebut by this time I've got all steel armor that has enchants on it and a prettyawesome sword. I had to heal some during the fight but I can do that withmy restoration magic. I just took cover behind trees so it couldn't get mewith its breath weapon. Then I kicked its ass.

Me and my house thrall Lydia. She's my complete servant, always addresses meas "My Lord" and whatnot and fights by my side. She's pretty powerful.

Another screenshot from a different angle. Not how awesome the water looks.It's incredible to me that it looks so real. I've swum around and caught fishwith my bare hands in it. Pretty cool, huh?

Skyrim is a game where you can do just about anything. You can walk over to mountains, explore buildings and ruins, jump off of cliffs...the world is so real and so incredibly detailed that the grass sways in the wind and the tree leaves flutter. You can customize your character so completely that you determine the shape of their nose, the color of their irises, and the style of their hair. Each item is so intricate that you can rotate it in three-dimensional view and find clues on the actual item on how to solve a puzzle.  I found a gold dragon claw set with rubies that when I turned it over, discovered how to open a magical portal deep in a dungeon. I did so, defeated scores of raving monsters, and got my first powerful magical item. It was pretty awesome.It's also a game that has inspired countless online memes. Checkout Skyrim Hoarders in a google search. Below, click on the short video and watch. You may ask yourself...why? Why would someone collect all that? The answer: because YOU CAN!!! The video is only 13 seconds long. In this game, you can own a house and store anything you find in your home. You can organize it or just throw it in a room. As you can see, some guys are having too much fun with this by collecting junk, skulls, or even bodies.

If you would like to add me as a friend, my "handle" on STEAM is "kavrik519". We can chat while playing :)Tomorrow I shall reveal who won the 12 Days of Christmas "Lords A Leaping" give-a-way from Sarah Belliston's blog. Also, I will probably "gush" some about the Prometheus trailer which is due to hit Apple's movie trailer site on Thursday.In FANTASY NEWS HERE IS THE HOBBIT TRAILER .... ENJOY!!!!!

Thanks everyone for getting me over 50,000 page views in less than a year. I think that's pretty good traffic.

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