(Pocket-lint) - The Bethesda 2018 E3 press conference was, quite simply, superb, with new footage of Rage 2, Fallout 76 and teasers for The Elder Scrolls IV and new sci-fi RPG epic Starfield being particular highlights. However, the best trailer of the showcase was, by far and away, the announcement video for Skyrim on Amazon Echo. Voice-controlled adventure awaits and the skill is genuinely available now, even though we thought it was just a joke at the time. Skyrim: Very Special Edition is available in the US only at first, but is coming to other regions in time. It's a brilliant gag, with an equally excellent sketch, but also works as you can see in the hilarious trailer. Best PS5 games 2021: Amazing PlayStation 5 titles to pick up By Max Freeman-Mills · 27 May 2021 We thoroughly approve - E3 press events can often be trailer after trailer of exploding heads and overblown gunfire effects. It's great to see Bethesda has a sense of humour about such things too. It broke up the full event well, which also featured Andrew WK and his band singing the theme song for Rage 2 live in the venue. And then there was an announcement of new mobile game The Elder Scrolls: Blades for Android and iOS. It'll be free-to-play this Fall and you can pre-order it now. It effectively brings an open world RPG Elder Scrolls experience to mobile, but with easy to use controls and combat system. Top stuff. You can see the announcement clip from the event below. Writing by Rik Henderson.<doc-sep>CNET screenshot Bethesda has brought its wildly-successful RPG The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim to basically every platform, from the PS3, PS4 and PC to the Nintendo Switch. It's been ported and remastered so many times it's become a joke that where there's an opportunity, there's a port of Skyrim. At its E3 2018 press conference Sunday, Bethesda laughed at its own success with a trailer for Skyrim on Amazon Alexa. Featuring comedian, actor (and CNET magazine cover star!) Keegan-Michael Key, the ad runs through the obvious jokes about performing dragon shouts via voice command, vocalized combat with crabs and eating the endless cheese a player has stocked up on. But here's the craziest part: the game actually exists. CNET screenshot "Bethesda Game Studios is proud to present Skyrim... for Alexa. Yes, that's right, the version of Skyrim you never saw coming has finally arrived on the platform you never asked for," the Alexa Skill listing says. What does Skyrim on Alexa include? Don't expect any dynamic combat or world-changing decisions. Instead, it's more of a text adventure that you can control with your voice. And it's actually pretty cool! When you tell Alexa to play Skyrim, you're dropped at a crossroads, deciding where to go. I ended up quickly getting a fetch quest from a bee keeper to recover her beloved silver candlesticks, which is about the most Skyrim quest you can imagine. That quest led me to a dungeon, in which I entered combat for the first time. Staring down a menacing mudcrab, Alexa gave me my combat options: Attack with weapon, perform magic, shout or flee. Obviously, I yelled at the crab. At first, it was ineffective, but upon the second shout the crab was launched into the air and defeated. I didn't get any loot, but my dragon shouts did hit level 2. Bethesda After the crab battle, Alexa presented another crossroad: Would I go toward a mushroom tunnel, a creaking door or a spooky path? Obviously, I picked the spooky path. Along that path, I ran into a Draugr (because after all, this is Skyrim) and continued with my proven tactic of telling Alexa to shout at things. There's plenty more, after playing for about 15 minutes I had obtained loot, turned in quests and chased every spooky path that was presented. What does the rest of Skyrim on Alexa have in store? You'll have to find out yourself! Bethesda also joked about Skyrim is also coming to other platforms, but as far as we know, none of these more ridiculous examples of Skyrim ports have yet to materialize. Watch the full trailer below. E3 2018: Everything you need to know E3 2018 coverage at CNET: All of our E3 2018 coverage in one place. Now playing: Watch this: E3 2018 preview E3 2018 coverage at GameSpot: Wall-to-wall coverage of the show from our sister site, GameSpot. E3 2018 coverage at Giant Bomb: Still more commentary and news from E3, from our colleagues at Giant Bomb. First published, June 10 at 7:43 p.m. PT. Update, 9:53 p.m. PT: Adds that Bethesda might have actually made this thing.<doc-sep>The myriad versions and ports of Skyrim on almost all possible platforms have become somewhat of a running joke among the Bethesda community over the last couple of years. On stage today, Bethesda Game Studios' director Todd Howard announced a new, and far more enticing, addition to the Skyrim family, a 'Very Special Edition', if you will. Featuring Keegan-Micheal Key, the launch trailer for the new game showcases Skyrim running on anything and everything from Alexa to an Etch A Sketch to pagers to fridges, basically anything in your house that can be called an appliance (and even some that can't). This - not Elder Scrolls VI, Starfield or Fallout 76 - was the biggest announcement by Bethesda at E3 this week, though I'm still left wondering when my toaster will make the cut. When it does, do I need to say yol toor shul to make toast? Update: It turns out that the spoof is actually real. Bethesda actually went ahead and published a skill on Alexa that allows you to play Skyrim with your smart speaker like a Choose Your Own Adventure title. The skill is only available in the US, unfortunately, but you can try it out here.<doc-sep>
During Bethesda's E3 Press Conference, Todd Howard introduced the Skyrim Very Special Edition for Amazon Alexa with a commercial featuring Keegan-Michael Key. It was a fun in-joke for the community who have teased Bethesda about Skyrim being ported to every known system. Or so we thought. The Skyrim Very Special Edition is actually very real and you can download it right now. According to the Amazon.com listing, the Skyrim Very Special Edition allows you to "take your rightful place as the Dragonborn of legend (again) and explore Skyrim using the power of your voice...your Thu'um!" The description also includes a list of bullet points that indicate what you, as a Dragonborn, can expect to do on Alexa, including; Guard your knees against arrows, walk straight up a mountain instead of going around, fail to collect all stones of Barenziah for like the 5th time, and...wait for it...open wooden doors. While Alexa fans will no doubt be thrilled to finally be able play Skyrim on their devices, it appears that the Etch-a-Sketch, Pager, and Samsung Smart Refrigerator versions are, unfortunately, not real. Though, with Skyrim, the dream is always alive. Besides the announcement of the Skyrim Very Special Edition, Bethesda had a ton to reveal at their show including more of Fallout 76 and Rage 2, a sequel to Doom, a new co-op Wolfenstein, the announcement of the long-rumored Starfield, and the first tease of Elder Scrolls VI. Adam Bankhurst is a freelance writer for IGN and hopes he doesn't get too invested in the Skyrim Very Special Edition because there really are a ton of other games to play. You can follow him on Twitter.