I just discovered Skyrim and love it! However, I've never played a video game in my life and know I'm probably missing tons of things due to my inexperience with game play and consoles. Any tips or background I should know? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

This website is good to use. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Skyrim
its full of spoilers though.

You've never played a video game in your life? Where in the world do you live?

Just jump in and play
Skyrim is very good at helping beginners figure things out. It's not overly complicated if you just want to have fun.
Just explore everywhere, and look at everything. You never know when you might be able to interact with something.

Some people just value other pursuits over video games and have never tried them, regardless of where they live.

Enjoy it.

I agree, just play and have fun, the game has little tutorials along the way to help you learn the controls and such. Explore the beaten paths as well as the wilds, you'll love it.

Since its your first game and first TES game you'll enjoy it no doubt because you have no expectations. Everyones first TES is alwasy their favorite.

My very first video game experience was Mario Bros & the Duck Hunting game, back in the NES. Damn, those childhood days were the days. I put aside my action figures a lil bit to enter the awesome world of videogames. Memories I will never forget. Now, to think about my very first experience being a TES game... woah... to feel what I felt back in the day, but with a TES, one of the most riches games due to lore and everything it has... Sir, just play it, it will be something you will never forget.

I would go with a sword and shield character to start with, they have the highest survival rate ( not that it's hard to survive in Skyrim or anything ) Use this character to get used to the controls and how the game runs, explore your butt off and have fun. You may want to start on novice and work your way up the more ' seasoned ' you become.

It's your story to build, your game so do as you please. If you want to be evil then you can, if you want to be the honorable hero then you can. But I suggest that you start with a pretty basic build that's easy to get a grasp on yet there's still moments where you're challenged. If you have an idea as to where you want your character to go then follow it or you can just let fate guide you and enjoy the unfolding of your characters life.

Tis a friendly spot around here, you'll get lots of help. It's just a question away, so adopt the mind set that there are no dumb questions. Us seasoned vet's are more then happy to help out Have fun, explore your butt off and soak up the lore and history of TES

Nope. We asked this question in the Elder Scrolls Discussion forum and the result showed that, for most of us (nearly two-to-one), our first TES game is not our favorite. Here's the actual numbers:

First game is not favorite: 48

First game is favorite: 27

Source:http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1364804-is-it-agreed-that-the-first-es-game-you-play-will-be-your-favorite/

Ha.

I started with Morrowind...Meh. Then I got Oblivion...Meh. And now it's Skyrim....EPICNESS! Now mind you Oblivion was alright in my books I did play it for nearly 4+ years but I didn't get as into it as I have with Skyrim. Morrowind was a whole other story, I never once followed the main quest line, I never joined any of the guilds, all I did was explore and kill NPC's for their stuff. It lasted maybe a year before it got shelved. So my favorite would be the third TES game that I've played

Yeah, I started with Daggerfall, but it is far from my favorite... my favorite being Redguard...

Why is it always one of first advices? I'm glad I didn't ask anyone for opinion when I played my first RPG, sword&board characters bore me to death. Unlike the previous TES games, in Skyrim it's almost impossible to go wrong with a build unless you completely neglect all combat skills - so I'd say play whatever character you want. It will probably end up a hybrid anyway.

I think its because it is a basic build. Not to hard and not to fancy.

Fair enough