With November playing host to some of the biggest game releases of the year, (we’re looking at you, Uncharted 3 and Modern Warfare 3), another particularly large game due in a few days time has already staked a considerable claim on PS3 owners’ hard drives.

Skyrim, the highly anticipated latest instalment in the Elder Scrolls series, will require a mandatory install on the next generation console of 5.5 GB. Surprisingly though, this is quite a bit smaller than Rage’s 8 GB PS3 install size, particularly since the game should offer around 100 hours of gameplay, a game world roughly as large as Oblivion’s, along with dragons, (which were at one stage rumoured to have been encouraged to go on a strict 50 people a day diet to fit on the discs).

It was also revealed recently that the Xbox 360 version will have an optional install size of 3.8 GB. While no reason has been given for the disparity between the sizes on the two consoles, neither of these should present problems for owners of either console. However, older PS3 users who haven’t upgraded their hard drives may wish to clear some space ahead of the game’s release on the 11th.

According to PlayStation LifeStyle, the install, along with Skyrim's  new engine, should obviate any problems that were encountered by the previous entry in the series, Oblivion, which didn’t require any installation.

 

While the game is being highly anticipated, particularly by fans of the Role Playing genre, and has already gone gold, Skyrim won’t be suitable for everyone, specifically a younger audience. PlayStation Universe reported that Pete Hines, the vice-president of marketing at Bethesda, confirmed via Twitter that players will not have the option to disable blood and gore

 

For those who aren’t opening their wallets for the collector’s edition, there is still some time to secure a free printed map of Skyrim’s world via pre-ordering it. For a quick peak at what to expect, view the video below.