YouTube user Jason Yang cloned himself for one very special reason: to play beautiful Skyrim music to you. That's so nice!

And the Jason Yang clone orchestra doesn't only play the violin. There's some drumming, too. Clone drumming.

Skyrim Violin Cover [YouTube]

In today's memorable edition of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Eatplaysleepmore thinks he's found a major character flaw in Bethesda's latest masterpiece. Do you agree?

Just how forgettable are these characters?

I just finally finished Skyrim, kinda had to deal with some massive issues to finish it though (one of the unlucky PS3 copies). Story was ok, but here is my biggest realization, the characters in this "real living world" (as some Skyrim fans like to call it because they do jobs and stuff) are so non-existent.

I am trying to remember names of most of the people and I just can't. Ulfric Stormcloak and Alduin are the only ones I can remember, obviously because they play the biggest role in the story but that's really it.

Now I know a lot of people hated most (if not all) the characters from Final Fantasy XIII (hell I do too) but the names and faces stay with you. If someone came up to you and asked you a question about Lighting, her face would show up in your head and the way she dressed(maybe even her voice).

But if I were to ask, hey remember those siblings in the first town you run into? You would be like oh yeah, I forgot what they looked like and their names though.

Even with Dragon Quest 9, where you made your own silent character, I can recall 5+ names in there than I can with Skyrim.

I am just hoping Bethesda adds more "character" to these people, yeah I get that this is "my" story but can't I have some memorable interesting characters to interact with along the way?

Perhaps these Dr. Zoidberg modded Skyrim mudcrabs aren't as freaky as the contorted spider Spider-Men, but their screams of agony when you kill them are pretty spot on.

Also, thanks to XtremeScope we get to see the two doing battle. Someone really needs to do a full-on Futurama mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

There's no credit given forFancyPantz is the creator of this mod—which takes the giant spiders found in Bethesda's mega-hit action role-playing game and turns them in creepy multiples of Marvel Comics' flagship character—but I'm thinking the guy's last name in real life has to be Osborn.

You'd need to share the Green Goblin's insane obsession with Peter Parker's masked identity to cook up a tweak that mutates the already disturbing enemies and changing them to look like Spider-Man. And when the scrabbling abominations start running amok? That's probably just what the web-slinger's archenemy sees when he has nightmares. After watching this, I know that I, for one, will be having those same nightmares.

Look out here comes the Spiderman... in Skyrim [Reddit]

It's East meets West. A Japanese gamer has inserted Final Fantasy XIII heroine Lightning into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with a character mod. Here are the results. What do you think?

The stockings and starch white outfit look out of place, but Lightning sure can pull off a simple tunic.

Japanese role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII was released in 2009 in Japan. Skyrim came out in Nov. Read Kotaku's reviews of Skyrim and FFXIII.

『スカイリム（skyrim）』でFF13のライトニングのキャラMODを動かしてみたスクリーンショットが美しい [がめログ]

The Icenhancer graphic mod for Grand Theft Auto IV turns Rockstar's game into something some could mistake for film, rather than a video game.

And now Hayssam Keilany says he is working on a mod to turn the sometimes jagged world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim into a similar moving masterpiece.

Keilany dropped a few images on his Facebook page earlier this week showing off a much improved Skyrim and hinting at the coming of some mod work.

"More informations tomorrow or later on the forum. If you guys have question about the Skyrim one. Taking a break of GTA4 modding for few days, but still creating textures is kinda long. (trees, grass,etc)"

The backwards-flying dragon killing and magic-resistance fixing Skyrim 1.3 patch is now live on the Xbox 360, according to Bethesda's official The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Twitter account. Go get it and then marvel at the lack of reverse dragons.

During this year's Tokyo Game Show, this one Japanese dude I met kept going on and on about the game he was looking forward to most. That game was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. He was not alone.

For a foreign game, heck for a domestic game, Skyrim posted an impressive entry in the Japanese sales charts, debuting at number four and selling 75,865 copies. That's the PS3 version. The Xbox 360 version sold another 37,037 copies.

Coming in at third on the sales chart was Super Mario 3D Land at 89,743 copies, Mario Kart 7 at 183,834 copies, and Monster Hunter 3G at 521,959 copies. Skyrim is in good company.

Role-playing games are traditionally popular in Japan. Its Japanese success is a bit of a no-brainer. The game is getting stellar reviews in Japanese publications, online and offline.

One thing that has helped the title in Japan could be that Skyrim allows players to switch between first-person and third-person views. Third-person games are more popular in Japan as, someone at Capcom once told me, Japanese gamers prefer to see the character. No wonder Bethesda's Fallout games have a sizeable following.

Another thing that helped Skyrim in Japan is that it's a great game.

週間ソフト＆ハードセルスルーランキング（2011年11月28日～12月4日） [Media Create via NeoGAF via CVG]

There's an exploit in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that allows players to put a bucket on characters' heads and take their stuff.

This video not only asks what that would be like in real life, but also, what would it be like doing that to a man in a flannel shirt? Something like this, I guess.

Skyrim Buckethead Glitch In Real Life [YouTube]

Upon finishing up the initial download and install of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from Steam and launching the game, the game determined that the optimal graphics settings for the MSI GT683DXR-423US gaming laptop I was playing on were "Ultra High", and that was good enough for me.

Of course I didn't have to spend some $1,500 to play the latest installment of Bethesda's masterful open world role-playing franchise on the GR683DXR. The company sent me a model for evaluation, to be returned shortly after this review is posted despite my having licked the surface of the machine on several occasions. Many, many occasions.

So for those of you that do have to spend a large amount of money on this Core i7 2 GHz laptop with its 15.6-inch full HD display, 12GB DDR3 system memory, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M graphics card, the real question is what parts did I enjoy licking, and which bits left a bad taste in my mouth?

First off we have the meaty taste of the MSI GT683DXR-423US's rather hefty frame. While the 15 by 10.3 inch footprint is rather modest, at nearly two inches thick and weighing in at 7.7 pounds it's the sort of gaming laptop that spent a great deal of time on my desk and very little time demonstrating its portability. I had the opportunity to bring the MSI machine with me to BlizzCon earlier this year, but opted instead to go with the hideous Asus laptop I procured earlier, partly because it weighs two pounds lighter and partly because it was less likely to be stolen by random Blizzard fan ne'er-do-wells.

While the MSI GT683DXR-423US is a slightly thicker, meatier gaming laptop than I'm used to fiddling with, that thickness makes for an incredibly sturdy unit that I could probably sit on without damaging. Probably. I'm not going to try it.

The bulky GT683DXR-423US is housed within a shiny stylized black plastic shell that reminds me of the original PlayStation Portable in terms of both shine and dust and fingerprint attractiveness. Further ensuring that everyone knows this isn't a dedicated Microsoft Office workstation, the unit is festooned with strips of glowing orange LEDs along the sides, top, and front, all of which can be turned off with the press of a button in case you want to look more studious while leveling your Khajiit at Starbucks.

Overall the unit's design is rather sweet, though I might have preferred the shiny surface be replaced with the attractive carbon fiber-like honeycomb plastic that covers the wrist rest and track pad, attracting less finger prints and more admiring stares from onlookers in the process.

While we're on the subject of shiny things, the unit's 15-inch 1080p LCD panel is as glossy and gorgeous as the glass of a freshly-polished candy counter, adding vibrant tang to anything displayed upon it. While some folks prefer a more subdued display more akin to today's standalone monitors, I like my gaming laptops glossy and reflective. I'm sure if I were the sort to play Battlefield 3 in the park on a beautiful sunlit afternoon it would bother me. Thankfully I'm not even sure what a park is anymore, and the sun is just a mass of incandescent gas, at least that's what They Might Be Giants tells me.

And They Might Be Giants sound pretty spectacular on the MSI GT683DXR-423US's Dynaudio premium sound speakers, especially after a little tweaking with the included THX TruStudio PRO application. When I'm using a gaming laptop in public I generally stick to a headset for sound, but when I'm at home or in the mood to be a bit of an asshole I prefer something more powerful than standard laptop speakers, and these babies deliver a fresh and juicy sound.

The MSI GT683DXR-423US took every game I threw at it and kept coming back for more. Battlefield 3 on the highest settings? No problem whatsoever. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings with the graphics cranked up to ridiculous? Not a problem. Between the Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor, the 12GB DDR3 memory, and the 1.5 GB DDR5 VRAM dedicated to the GeForce GTX 570M graphics chip there really wasn't anything this baby couldn't handle. As an instrument designed to play computer games, this is a triumph.

In fact the only feature of the MSI GT683DXR-423US that doesn't deserve a thorough tongue bath is the unit's touch pad. I realize that in the history of gaming laptop not one company has managed to create a navigation device as responsive as plugging in an external mouse, but MSI's track pad is a particularly dismal example of compromise. Prone to jerkiness and not particularly pleasant to the touch, this track pad's worst feature is the unibutton, one solid button that works on the teeter-totter principle, meaning the closer you get to the middle of the button the less likely your press will be registered. I despise this style of button consolidation, not being a big fan of trading functionality for form.

Yet even figuring in the cost of a capable external mouse the MSI GT683DXR-423US's $1,649.99 MSRP (you can easily find it for less) is still relatively low when compared to other gaming laptops with similar features. It might not have the biggest screen or the 3D bells and whistles other manufacturers are pushing these days, but with its power and price point it's a mouthful of delicious portable gaming flavor that will last a long, long time.

The MSI GT683DXR-423US is currently available for purchase at many retailers across the U.S. and Canada. Manufacturer's suggested retail price is $1,649.99. Review loaner unit provided by MSI to be returned covered in spit following publication of this review.