Capture Footage from Your Game Console to your PC

Many gamers find on occasion that they want to capture an ‘epic’ clip and put it on YouTube to ‘Show the Internetz’ how good they are at their favorite game. This poses a dilemma. Some games like Halo 3 have the Theater option, but there is no ‘Send to YouTube’ Option. So, how do you get this footage off the console and onto your PC?

It’s actually quite simple, however it’s not going to be free. Yes, you heard me not free. You will have to spend a bit of money if you are serious about capturing clips. Now, we’re not going to be covering the disgraceful ‘Camming’ method. We’re going to show you how to do it the right way with a capture card.

Let’s talk about capture cards. You can spend between 15 USD and 1000 USD on capture cards depending on exactly how serious you are. I recommend the Dazzle by Pinnacle. If you end up getting the Dazzle, it’s going to pretty self explanatory. Instal the software, plug in Xbox, Connect Dazzle to USB port, run software. You get the idea.

I personally however, have opted for (after testing the Dazzle) an Internal Capture card. This provides me with more control and flexibility. If you are going to use an internal capture device you’re going to need to be a bit more advanced. First of all, you’ll need to get into the guts of your PC. If you’re not comfortable with that, you should be getting the Dazzle. Then you’ll need to install the drivers for the device. Once again, if you can’t do that get the Dazzle. So, once you have got your card installed and the drivers installed you’re going to need to install some software to run the card. I personally recommend VirtualDub.

Install Games to the Xbox 360 Hard Drive

Quite recently, Microsoft issued a mandatory update for the Xbox 360 Dashboard via Xbox LIVE. This update is called the NXE or ‘New Xbox Experience’. There are lots of great features in this update, besides the new 3D interface.

One of my personal favorites is the ability to install your games to the Xbox 360′s Hard Drive. This is extremely useful for a few reasons, the first being that it will in most cases make load times faster. Very often it does nothing, and in the case of Halo 3, it increases the load time. The second, and probably more important reason is that it makes your Xbox 360 almost silent. This is because the DVD drive in the Xbox no longer needs to spin, the drive generates most of the noise that the Xbox is constantly put down for.

Installing the games is quite simple. All you need is your Xbox and the game you want to install.

Once you have the Disc in the tray and the Xbox is sitting on the Dashboard screen, scroll to ‘My Xbox’ and select the game you want to install. Do not press the ‘A’ Button. Instead press the ‘Y’ button. This will bring you to a game details screen, from which you can choose the ‘Install to hard drive’ option.

The process usually takes about 15-30 minutes depending on various factors. When this is finished, you’re free to play away!

I do have one problem with the technology though. When I first heard about it, I thought I could stop changing the Discs in my Xbox 360 and just press a button to switch games. Unfortunately, not so. You still need to have the game in the DVD drive for proof of ownership. (Please Microsoft, make this happen in the next Dashboard update)

Happy gaming!

-Zane