Long time Elder Scrolls fans are searching everywhere for the latest and greatest news about the biggest and hottest release of the year: Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim.

In recent Skyrim News, Todd Howard (Bethesda Director) came out of the woodwork to address a point many fans may have been quite curious about, and one that has really been teeter tottering around the video game world as everyone waits to see what new technologies will mark the future of console and PC gaming.

Will there be 3D in Skyrim?

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According to a new interview by PSM3 magazine, Howard strongly and quickly shot down the idea of 3D being a possibility for the new Elder Scrolls title.

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less – having to wear those glasses! I’m not a 3D fan. It ruins the image for me,” Todd said.

Immediately after that statement, he went on to mention that he wants one thing, and one thing only from a creation like Elder Scrolls V.

“Clarity.”

Will we ever see 3D prevalent in 3D games? Only time will tell. When Todd was what his thoughts were on the future of 3D in video gaming he responded by saying “I think everyone’s going to keep trying,” he said. “But I’m not sure.”

Howard then continues to say that all he wants from a game’s graphics is “clarity.” PSM3 go on to talk about the future of 3D in games, and ask if he thinks it will stick around for the long run. “I think everyone’s going to keep trying,” he said. “But I’m not sure.”

This is a resounding debate among video games. What do you think? Should developers and gaming companies be putting forth more effort to include and standardize 3D into every day gaming? I mean, we see this technology blowing up in the movie and TV market after fans were blown away with realistic eye-popping 3D in movie titles like “Avatar” and the “Twilight” series.

We think it will only be a matter of time before 3D becomes standard, in the movies AND on the game scene the same way HD took over markets when it went mainstream. Consumers are always looking for the latest and greatest things, and video gamers more than anyone are looking for that next level of ultra fantasy immersion.

Do you agree with Todd’s decision? Or do you think Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim should have pushed harder to incorporate 3D technology.

Personally, I would have loved to see it included. After quite a few overpriced movie tickets purchased this past year to go see the latest and greatest movie releases in 3D, I’ve become quite fond of watching movies with the latest state of the art 3D filming. On the flip side, I don’t really know if I could sit and play for hours with those glasses on, especially on a 100+ hour title like Elder Scrolls V.

Following the timeline for releases of Elder Scrolls games, I’d say it’s at least a worthwhile bet that we will see an Elder Scrolls VI title released for the Xbox 720, PS4, or PC that will at least have a 3D option.

Todd Howard is just like anyone else. Resistant to change! But perhaps he or future Bethesda developers will be able to find that balance between “Clarity” and new display standards. For now, it’s a safe bet we wont be seeing Elder Scrolls V Skyrim 3D on shelves later this year.

Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim is currently scheduled for release on November 11th, 2011.

A new Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Gameplay Video made an appearance at the Comic-Con in San Diego, CA.

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The video showcases the same content as the E3 demo but with a twist – you can actually hear the in-game audio!

The Skyrim Release Date is coming soon…11/11/11.

There hasn’t been a ton of great Skyrim news to report on since E3. The Skyrim release date is getting closer day by day and all I have today are these new screenshots (and some old ones with improved resolution) to satisfy your cravings for the latest on Elder Scrolls V Skyrim.

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Last week Bethesda released a brand new special edition of Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion to commemorate the 5 years of Elder Scrolls greatness and ramp up excitement for it’s upcoming release The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim. Oblivion was originally released in 2006.

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This brand spanking new Oblivion 5th Anniversary edition
is a COMPLETE Elder Scrolls IV collection. Not only does it include the original hit game but also it’s expansions Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine and will be available to play in Windows PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

What all does it include? ElderScrollV.com has all the gory details:

• The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion Original Hit Title
• Knights of the Nine: Expansion Pack
• Shivering Isles: Expansion Pack
• Collector’s steelbook embossed with Daedric Symbols
• Behind Scenes documentary on the making of Oblivion
• Full Color map of Cyrodiil and Shivering Isles
• $10 Mail-In rebate offer for the purchase of The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim and the TES V official Strategy Guide

You can pickup all of this Oblivion gaming greatness for a suggested retail price of $29.99 in stores. This is a deal that no Elder Scrolls fan should pass-up.

It’s no mystery that Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim is one of the most anticipated RPG releases of 2011. Unfortunately for skeptics and testers, Bethesda has announced there will be no demo for the upcoming title release.

Bethesda Producer Craig Lafferty made a statement in a video interview with Gameplanet that Skyrim is just too complex and vast to make a demo for and that a demo couldn’t represent the game in a positive way.

“With a game this size and complexity it’s really hard to do a demo that represents the game truly, and it would be a gigantic demo as well. So, we’re not doing a demo.” (See the whole interview below!)

The news doesn’t particularly come as a surprise. The last time we saw a demo for a title in the Elder Scrolls series was back in 1996 with the release of Daggerfall. Bethesda’s other non-linear “open world” titles also went demoless, such as Fallout 3.

Still, with the cutting edge developments in graphics and engines it would have been nice to have a platform to test or benchmark the game for PC enthusiasts seeking compatibility or maximum FPS.

The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim is headed to several platforms later this year. Watch for Skyrim to hit shelves for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 11, 2011

This week was a huge week with a major leak of awesome Skyrim news coming STRAIGHT from the Elder Scrolls V Game Director, Lead Designer, and Lead Artist. See What Todd, Bruce, and Matt write to us in this sweet interview.

Skyrim Fan Interview
Todd Howard, Game Director
Bruce Nesmith, Lead Designer
Matt Carofano, Lead Artist

1) Can the character shapeshift into different creatures?

Todd: “We’ve done various things like that in our previous games, and it’s something that we probably won’t be talking about specifically on this one. Don’t read anything into that, we just prefer to not discuss this one. We’d like to leave that an open question until the game is out. ”

2) I want to customize my avatar. What sorts of options, like facial hair, tattoos, or body size changes are available? Will we be able to change them later in the game?

Matt: “There is large amount of customization available for each race. You can choose from multiple hair styles, beards, scars, and face paint. Each race and gender has a light and heavy build and you can pick any level in between. We’ve completely redone our facial system, and we’re really excited to show off the results.”

3) Is armor handled like in Oblivion (with each body part being welded together) or in Morrowind (with each body part separate)? Will you be able to wear both clothes and armor at the same time?

Matt: “The armor system is very similar to Oblivion’s. The main difference is that the upper and lower body armors, the cuirass and greaves, have been combined into one piece. This helps create armor styles that have the look we needed for Skyrim. In most of the Nordic designs we created, the upper armor would completely cover the lower armor, making it unnecessary. We get much better visual results combining those pieces, and it renders a lot faster too, so we can put more people on screen, so that was an easy tradeoff for us. We can also make a lot more armors now, so the number and variation types are more than we’ve ever had.”

4) Are the main and faction quests branching or linear? What about side quests?

Bruce: “We’ve focused on telling one story well. There are decision points in all the quest lines that can change things, but overall it’s a single story. Because the side quests are smaller stories, they are more likely to have major branches. For example, you can decide to save or betray someone, which changes the whole end of the quest. Overall the quest structure in Skyrim is closer to Oblivion than Fallout 3, in that there are many more quests, but they have fewer branches.”

5) Are loot and quest rewards level scaled, like in Oblivion? Will there be any powerful un-scaled items?

Bruce: “We’re handling leveling stuff similar to how we did in Fallout 3, but with a few new twists that we hope players won’t even notice. The enemies and loot are based on the “encounter zone” you’re in, so it could be higher or lower level than your current level. We do have a new concept of epic or “special” loot that you can randomly find in many cases, regardless of the zone, and you will still get better stuff in the better zones with your level higher. Same goes for quest rewards. We try to make them appropriate for what you did. Sometimes that is random, sometimes that is a set item. There’s a lot of specific stuff that is very powerful, like the Daedric artifacts.”

6) Will items present in Morrowind but not in Oblivion, such as spears, medium armor, and mark/recall spells, be making a return?

Todd: “They are not in Skyrim for the same reasons we didn’t include them in Oblivion. I’ll address each one. First spears, the truth is we’d love to do them, but it becomes a priority and development time thing for us. We feel it’s better to spend our time right now making sure the gameplay for the other play styles is really solid. That includes sword, sword and shield, two-handed weapons, and bows. You can also add magic to that list. Getting those all working well together, while feeling different, is our priority.

As far as medium armor, that’s not a time or polish thing, it’s a design choice to focus on two armor types and making sure those feel different and the player appreciates them. We try to make your character move and feel different between light and heavy and having a 3rd one in the middle just muddies it up in how it plays, as well as visually. And even now, we still have to tweak those two armor types so they feel different, while remaining fun. Every time we slow down heavy armor more, it feels bad, but it’s the main way of balancing it. We’ve added other ways of balancing it that feel right—like different stamina drain rates when sprinting and such.

Mark and recall is one where it’s a lot of fun, but like levitation, was removed so we could design better gameplay spaces and scenarios. We were really limited in Morrowind because the player could recall or levitate out of many situations and break them. There was a lot of good gameplay and level design work that we just couldn’t do and now we can. Back then it seemed like many good ideas we had were shot down when another designer would say “oh yeah, I just levitate or recall away.” So we got rid of them.”

7) Will we be able to have relationships with the NPCs, romantic or otherwise?

Bruce: “Absolutely! You make friends with people by doing things for them. Friends in the game will treat you differently. Some of them will even agree to go with you into dungeons and on adventures. You can even get married. If you own a house, your…

Elder Scrolls Enthusiast Jack Tabb writes into ElderScrollV.com with some thoughts on Skyrim combat mechanics.

“From Arena to Oblivion, concepts of RPG combat has been outclassed with each installment of The Elder Scrolls. With the upcoming sequel Skyrim people like myself are waiting to see how the evolution of TES combat will be defined by Oblivion and it’s predecessors.
Disregard the type of combat that defines your character such as spells, perks, dual wielding, or enchantments. We are considering the simplest forms of combat – the simple trading of blows.

In Morrowind, when your character would strike his/her opponent there would be a dice roll that would determine whether you would hit the enemy or miss the enemy. This became rather bothersome while facing higher-level foes, for how were you supposed to defeat an enemy with your silver dagger while your short blade level hovered only above 18? In Oblivion the combat was changed to be very productive yet crude. Your character could hack away at an enemy to take its health – But that’s just it. In retrospect, all we did was hack. You beat the pulp out of them and hope not to lose too much health. Spells, enchantments, and poisons added depth to the combat but in the end you simply waited for the enemy to fall backwards, dead. It shouldn’t take a gazillion sword slashes to defeat a foe, but it sure did.

Skyrim looks hopeful. From what I have seen, Skyrim will change the face of TES combat, and then it will hopefully redefine the most simplistic form of it, “the trading of blows”. Now I can make only make deductions on the basics of battle in Skyrim, but it seems to be a lot more complex and this case – complex is good. Besides the damage calculations, dual wields, and perks, the look of the fighting style in Skyrim tends to be more natural. Your character swings with precision, and in some cases even looks like a seasoned swordsmen that can strike into the foe, not just randomly, but in places were more damage would be induced. After several strokes and when approaching the kill, your character will perform kill moves. These deadly moves seem to also come naturally. These finales match your swordplay and probably are used after a combo of some sorts. Now besides kill moves and being able to thrust your sword or swing your axe with precision, Bethesda has made the fighting sequences a lot more captivating. The player will no longer be able to just run backwards quickly to the nearest NPC or city guard, so they can have help when dealing with the higher-level foes. When fighting an opponent in Skyrim your avatar will be locked into combat, and the only chance of fleeing is sprinting as fast as you can the other direction. No longer will you be able to flee and fight at the same time with the lightning fast backtracking. All of the Elder Scrolls titles have been groundbreaking when it comes to battle and skirmishes. In that context, I am hoping to see that Skyrim quakes the very ground that RPG combat stands upon.”

How will The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim stack up with its predecessors??? Stay tuned to ElderScrollv.com for the latest Skyrim News!