Capturing gameplay footage for older consoles

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  • Capturing gameplay footage for older consoles

    I've been looking into making game related videos for Youtube recently, and I found that you can either record gameplay through:
    1) Pointing a camera at the screen 2) Using a capture card or 3) Burning CD's/Dvd's through your DVD player

    Now I don't really want to do #1, as it generally looks awful. And since I don't have a DVD player (nor do I really know how to burn stuff) I've been looking into capture cards.
    However, there are so many I don't really know a good one to use ._. The Dazzle and EasyCaps ones are cheap, but they also look terrible, and the HDPVR is awesome but doesn't work well with retro consoles. I've also looked into Roxio and Canopus ADVC 110, but I've also heard that Roxio is kind of bad, and I'm not sure about Canopus... (other than it can record really nice retro footage...)

    So, any suggestions? (keep in mind that I only have a laptop, so nothing that involves messing with my computer's hardware...)

  • It depends how retro you're referring to because if it's as early as 16-Bit then a capture card will be a waste of money. Your best bet probably WOULD be to save up and buy a cheap DVD player and some RW+ dvds and record that way. Of course there is another REALLY simple way but I'm not legally allowed to mention it. Chance are someone's already suggested it to you though... if all else fails just do a google search and chances are people will have asked the same question as you before! :)
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  • Haha yeah I was thinking of recording NES/SNES and also newer consoles...
    Is it easy to set up and such? I've never used a dvd recorder before...
    (although now that I'm looking into it, it seems a dvd recorder might be cheaper than a capture card, so that's already a plus...)

  • I wouldn't know, I just know that AVGN (JamesNintendoNerd) records all of his footage from the older consoles using dvds - I've never actually done it myself :p It should be fairly simple though, just tune it to record on whatever channel the game console is set up to show on (usually AV on older TVs but I know the one for my PS3 is YPbPr for example)

    Also ezcaps aren't that bad as you can improve the footage quality easily with editing software by using tweaks to the colours, sharpness and even get rid of those horrid black bars at the side that it LOVES to produce :) I've used one for every LP I've done so far and never gotten a single complaint about quality :)
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  • Use an emulator...given that you own the game itself so it's legal but it's a lot more complicated than that. What makes it illlegal is the BIOS which you need to play it.

    For SNES/NES and PS1.... all people are using emulator now. PS2 can be recorded through HDPVR or Dazzle. PS3 can be recorded though it also but it's recommended to use HDPVR for an HD look.

  • @karlsanada10
    I would rather not do that to be honest. I dunno, I just don't like them at all >< (I can understand using them to try out a game before buying though)
    Not to mention my computer screen is kinda meh and it makes a TON of noise when using an emulator (more than my Wii, which is scary...)

    Also, most of the people I watch who do game reviews/let's plays for older systems, either use a capture card or a dvd recorder (AVGN is the only one I can think of for the recorder though...)
    And for even older systems, I've seen some of them use a camera (and actually make it look good...)

    So no, not "all people" are using an emulator :)
    Thanks for the suggestion though.

  • If your looking for the ultimate in retro gaming station use rom station. It takes all the games from the older consoles and regroup them from one site also give yo the emulator and its not illegal in some wierd way each download gives money to the company or some sort dont know how it work.
    Well if you interested here is the site below. Oh and its also french XD
    romstation.fr/
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