Skyrim is a wonderful game, regardless of how we feel about the baffling design of the game's user interface and menus. It's being treated very well at retail, with the launch shipment expected to bring in more than $450 million in worldwide revenue. What does that mean in terms of sales? ZeniMax Media shipped around 7 million copies of the game, and is estimating more than half of that number was sold in the first 48 hours. 3.5 million units sold through to consumers in two days is a crazy number, and it makes the game a monster hit right out of the gate.

How did the game do on the PC? The numbers aren't quite as concrete, but PC gamers are making themselves heard by buying the game in large numbers. "Online activity has been notable, with Steam reporting that in the first 24 hours of its release, Skyrim set a record with over 280,000 concurrent players, far outdistancing all other titles," the company said in a statement.

The game has a few advantages, to be sure: it's the latest release in a long-running series of popular games, it has had a strong marketing push, and was released by a large publisher. That being said, it's extremely gratifying to see a company make such a large investment in a strong single-player game, and have it pay off so handsomely.

Skyrim, alongside Deus Ex: Human Revolution, makes a strong case that there is an audience for lengthy single-player campaigns. While I'm not nearly far enough in the game to give anything approaching a full verdict, I can say that the story has grabbed me in a way the other Elder Scrolls titles failed to. The value proposition, especially with mods coming to the PC version in the near future, is incredible.