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. Works like a damn champ in DScaler, which is what you'd want to be using anyway unless you're doing extremely long videos (in which case Leadtek's WinFastPVR software 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 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.