I am on the 360, and I find if I hit the A button, instead of looting the body or getting the sword on the floor, I instead "grab" the body or sword and it just moves around. If I hit a barrel then I get into it, but not people or things on the floor. Very frustrating.
No problem, happy to help since it seems the Bethesda Forum goers are mature enough not to post any spoilers in this section despite the game being out Allows me to spread what solutions I've found to problem in the game.