What device(s) would you recommend for recording video games to PC?

[bombman]

i.e. playing something on the TV, recording what you played, and making an mpg out of it. is there a way to do this with component video cables, and a card?

[Leo_A]

Buy a capture card.

[roushimsx]

I use a Leadtek Winfast TV2000XP Deluxe for recording over RF, svideo and composite. For Component, you may be better off with something like a Black Magic Intensity Pro or something similar.

[Yukio]

If you wanted a MPEG compression, most DVD players and recorders are capable of MPEG,MPEG-2,MPEG-3 and MPEG-4.

Some capture cards have problems recording or getting screenshots of game consoles, one hint that was a little late for me and other persons on some game boards over the Net.

[Kitsune Sniper]

An Adaptec Gamebridge works very, very well. They used to be five bucks for a long time but then they skyrocketed to $100 or so. D:

I managed to get one for $25 shipped off Amazon.

[roushimsx]

If you wanted a MPEG compression, most DVD players and recorders are capable of MPEG,MPEG-2,MPEG-3 and MPEG-4.

Some capture cards have problems recording or getting screenshots of game consoles, one hint that was a little late for me and other persons on some game boards over the Net.

Yea, my first capture card had an onboard mpeg 2 encoder which caused a healthy 2 second delay in any game I wanted to play. You could bypass the encoder through a convoluted method, but it was more troublesome than it was worth. Thankfully, NewEgg's return policy and customer service rock and they were able to exchange it out for the one I have today (which cost less than a quarter what the previous card cost).

I mean, really, for the price, it's hard to beat the TV2000XP (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=tv2000xp&x=0&y=0). Works like a damn champ in DScaler (http://deinterlace.sourceforge.net/), which is what you'd want to be using anyway unless you're doing extremely long videos (in which case Leadtek's WinFastPVR software (http://tw1965.myweb.hinet.net/) works great for capturing to MPEG2)

[theChad]

I have a Conexant capture card in my machine (don't remember the model number or anything) but I've only used to record shows that I was around for and to play games once or twice. I had my Xbox hooked up to my computer when I ran out of TVs for a Halo LAN party and there was no lag between the Xbox and the computer so it was actually playable right on my computer screen which I think is a big plus over some other capture cards.

[bombman]

Okay, I'm looking at this Blackmagic Intensity Pro. It's got S-video, component, and HDMI. Does anyone have any experience with this card?

[roushimsx]

Okay, I'm looking at this Blackmagic Intensity Pro. It's got S-video, component, and HDMI. Does anyone have any experience with this card?

Read this post (http://forum.videohelp.com/topic345063-30.html#1881508) for some additional love and information.

That HD-PVR is sounding pretty appealing aside from the initial cost.

[bombman]

that was incredibly helpful! well, thanks to you all. i'll be referencing this in the future.