Review: Roxio Game Capture

Grab gameplay video, more with easy-to-use hardware

By Keith Shaw on Thu, 04/21/11 - 2:10pm.

. What's this?

Roxio GameCapture box The scoop: Roxio Game Capture, by Roxio, about $100

What it is: This hardware and software system includes a small box with video inputs and outputs designed to let you capture video in real-time from gaming consoles such as the Xbox 360 or Sony Playstation 3. Sitting between your console and the TV, and connected to a PC via USB cable, the Game Capture lets you capture your best moments of video gameplay, which you can then edit and share through the included editing software. The software lets you add transitions, voice-overs and other editing software components to make how-to, game review or strategy tips videos for sharing.

Why it’s cool: The system is easy to set up and get running – if you know how to connect video cables to the correct ports then you can connect it. The software is as easy as pushing a “capture” button when you’re ready to play. After you’ve captured the video, the software can help you edit any clips – if you’ve used any regular video editing software before you will feel at home with the Roxio software. While the software is easy to use, there are enough advanced features (for example, a 32-track timeline editor, animated credits and other special effects options) that should appeal to more advanced users.

Roxio GameCapture screen shot

The big question is why you would use this if you weren’t interested in capturing any gameplay videos. The answer? You can use this to capture video clips from services like Netflix, which are found on the Xbox and PS3 – basically anything you can do with your game console you can capture with the device. Of course, I’m only saying this in terms of capturing content for personal usage, not for uploading and sharing (you’d likely run into copyright issues).

The GameCapture unit works with other video sources as well – I connected my VCR/DVD combination unit via the component cables and was able to grab some videos from old VHS tapes. As long as your video source includes component outputs, the system will work. Capturing gameplay may not appeal to you, but that old box of VHS tapes with home movies on them may be begging to be digitized – this system works just fine with those.

Some caveats: The system is limited to component outputs with the game console / video source, which means you can’t use this for the Nintendo Wii (which uses composite outputs), and if you’re already playing the Xbox via HDMI cable, you might have to go out and buy the component A/V cable which may feel like you’re downgrading.

Grade: 4 stars (out of five)