Despite many reports claiming that the PS3 was the correct non-PC choice for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (due to better texture rendering) it would appear that a secret problem was waiting in the wings — crippling lag. Players are reporting that the game is slowing to a crawl for them, and huge save files are pegged as the probable cause.
Once save data reaches a certain size (5-6MB), the game becomes borderline unplayable with quest completion and NPC interaction halting altogether. Official PlayStation Magazine‘s Tim Clark claims that resetting the PS3 kills the lag, but only for an hour or so. It soon creeps back in.
Hopefully Bethesda can issue a patch to fix this, but I feel sorry for anybody playing offline — a large demographic that publishers have completely forgotten about. I’d feel sad for anyone who can’t get to play the game, because everybody should.
You can read a hearty thread of complaints over at the Bethesda Forums.