Rock, Paper, Shotgun! got the chance to play a bit of Wolfenstein: The New Order. They weren’t wholly impressed by it, but their report wasn’t entirely negative either.

The Elder Scrolls Online evidently has over three million signups for its upcoming beta testing, a truly staggering number. Though one can’t help but wonder if perhaps the number of still-interested prospective testers didn’t drop somewhat after it was announced that the game will be subscription-based, costing $14.99 USD/month to play? And after it was further revealed that the game will also sport a microtransaction-driven item shop in addition to the monthly fee?

News of the payment model the game has adopted hasn’t been received all that well by the gaming press. Polygon argues that it’s ultimately a self-defeating thing, for example, while USGamer wonders if the audience will even accept it given the recent advent of freemium as an effective monetization model for MMOs. Massively, meanwhile, were floored by the revelation overall, and deemed it a mistake.

That said, Bethesda is trying to ensure that The Elder Scrolls Online players won’t also have to pay Xbox Live Gold fees, in addition to the game’s subscription fee. That one can probably be filed under “good luck with that”, but at least they’re making the effort.

Anyhow…it’s apparently possible to play The Elder Scrolls Online without ever using magic, which may be a feature that appeals to some. The recently-implemented first-person mode, however, evidently still needs some work.

At least the game looks gorgeous. And yes, it will be at PAX Prime this weekend.

Switching topics now: here’s a bizarre Skyrim mod. And this is even weirder.

OpenMW had another productive week, by the way.

And Computer and Video Games have announced the nominees for the 2013 Golden Joystick Awards. As you might expect, Dishonored is nominated in a number of categories, including Best Newcomer, Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design, Best Moment (for the “Lady Boyle’s Last Party” sequence), and Game of the Year. Arkane Studios, meanwhile, earned a nomination for Studio of the Year. And The Elder Scrolls Online nabbed a nomination in the Most Wanted category, which concerns upcoming games.

Voting is open to the general public, it would seem, so if you want to have your say in who gets the Golden Joystick in each of several categories this year, head on over to the Computer and Video Games site.