Opening cinematics are a waste of developer time and money. I watch it once (maybe), and then I google a way to disable it permanently.

My first Skyrim experience: Start New Game, Loading screen.... Black, 'Bethesda Game Studios' 'Presents' 'The Elder Scrolls V' 'SKYRIM' (fade in from black)......

I am stood, yes stood! next to the [censored] wagon, which is static! Behind me is Ulfric, the Thief and the other dude just staring at me. My hands are bound and I can't walk anywhere. I'm like 'well this is wierd', so I wait for a minute... nothing. Another minute.... nothing. After 3 or 4 minutes, I now realise what's going on, and restart the game. [censored] modified Gamebryo crap!

Having said that, since restarting I have had only negligible texture glitches and found Skyrim and amazing experience.

The manual is in game. I think most games are going that direction to save money.

I hadn't seen that since the game came out. Thanks! Eerily, I have been seeing people who remind me of dude holding the torch for all these years and could never place the face until now.

I loved starting a new character in Oblivion just to hear Patrick Stewart. Just watched it on Youtube - it still gives me chills. Feels like something epic was about to begin as the music fires up and the camera pans around the Imperial City. Yeah, I miss a good intro.

I figure opening cinematics have have a place and a time (though personal preferences will influence when that is from person to person).

I think the cut scene worked perfectly here - it established your place in the world at that point in time (mainly wrong place, wrong time) without showing anything your character wouldn't have known. I like the "through your own eyes" introduction to the world from the start.

I wish there was a cinematic used to tell the story about how the civil war came ot be in Skyrim. Honestly, on that first carriage ride in the beginning with your captured comrades, I was confused as hell as to why i was catured, who these rebels were, why they were rebelling, and why the Empire wanted my head in a basket. I was a good deal in the game before I really knew anything about the back histroy between Oblivion and Skyrim. A cinematic could have done this to at least set up the world and history since Oblivion.