My retail copy from Amazon arrived about 1730 Friday. I already had Steam installed so popped in the disc and the install started under Win7 auto run. The activation went without a hitch (< 2 minutes) and then the game started installing through Win7 installer. It was slow and took about 20 minutes to install from DVD. When completed, it suggested starting Steam and when I did the patch was already 1/3 down loaded.

I did take the time to read through the small manual which nicely explained the UI and other game features. When I started the game, I was surprised to see just the Skyrim logo and the minimal start commands. As I pondered this, I heard the music slowly building in my headset. It was the Sons of Skyrim chant and it evoked a feeling of awe and greatness out of that minimalist start screen.

I shut the game down and made a few of the recommended initialization file changes. The game auto-detected high settings for my system (Win7 64, I7-950 @ 3.5 GHz, 6 GB RAM, GTX470) and most of the high settings were selected in the .ini file. I added the tree and ground shading, disabled mouse acceleration, and made a few other changes. Later, in the game I changed FOV to 90 through the console. I have not yet disabled vsynch.

No spoilers ... the game started perfectly and looked absolutely stunning. I am a retired electrical engineer and have been interested in computer HW and SW and graphics since the days of the TRS-80; I am fairly familiar with the way computers function and have played many games and simulations, including some recent "high detail" games. I have so far seen nothing that disappointed me in Skyrim!

The UI is minimalist and clearly derived from console control limitations -- but I think perfectly functional and certainly usable. I was able to use the mouse to go through the char selection screens with no issues. In game, after I adjusted the mouse sensitivity and set my mouse to higher HW resolution, I had no controlling issues and did not really see a lot of the x-y axis differences being mentioned ... there may be some but the game detail soon had me paying no attention to the mouse. I want to reiterate that I am using the mouse and keyboard for in-game movement and control, menu manipulation, and leveling through the perk trees. So far, the mouse has worked just fine for me. It is not what I would have expected as a PC UI from a game a few years back but it in no way kept me from enjoying the start and initial play. It is at this point almost transparent to the game content and I've not once seen something that caused me to stop and break immersion.

I have about 6 hours in right now and based on what I have seen and done, it will be many, many hours of enjoyment for a long time to come. I have had no crashes or freezes and game play at high settings has been smooth -- I do not know the FPS and do not want to. The game appears smooth to me and that is what is important. I have not yet seen glitches or bugs but I expect to see them and have them patched by either BSG or the modding community.

If you have not tried it, you owe it to yourself to do so. I cannot describe the sense of immersion I felt when climbing toward my first dungeon when the snow began to swirl and the wind howled through the mountains. I was cold! I had goose bumps when moving through my first dungeon as the sound of the wind blowing through the caverns and passageways. Even with a simple headset, I jumped when sounds from far off reverberated through the cavern. This game is going to be a lot of fun!

And lastly, is it better than Morrowind? Yes, and no. Morrowind was my first experience with TES and left very distinct impressions. Skyrim is so much more ... graphics, quests, AI, and much and more. But it doesn't replace Morrowind (or Oblivion or any of their DLC or expansions). They all will have a place in that part of me which is TES.

Call me a fan boy if you must (I am not) but I know what I see and feel. Well done, Bethesda!

Good first impression post, but a bit too long.