When we first started taking video capture seriously here at Nintendo Life during the Wii U era the hardware required cost wasn't astronomically steep, but it certainly high enough to give the average gamer pause for thought. However, as time as gone on we've seen the barrier to entry drop dramatically, and the units used to record footage have become ever smaller.
With the introduction of the Switch you could argue that a new era of video capture is upon us; while Nintendo has already introduced a screenshot button it hasn't yet enabled video recording, so if you're keen on preserving your best moments for posterity or fancy yourself as a budding YouTube star then you might want to consider Elgato's Game Capture HD60 - it's an excellent place to start, as it offers impressive features in a small form factor at a great price.
The Game Capture HD60 isn't a new product by any means; it's actually been out for a while and Elgato has since released the HD60S, a slightly improved model. However, the features mentioned above have kept it at the forefront of the video capture revolution and Elgato has been working tirelessly to improve its software to make recording footage as painless as possible. It's also worth noting that the HD60 has a chip that takes care of the video processing and compression "on the fly", which means it can use an older USB 2.0 connection standard, increasing comparability with a wider range of PCs, even quite old ones. By the time the video from the device hits the computer, it’s already been compressed.
This is where the older HD60 ironically has an advantage over the newer HD60S; with the newer model, the video processing is done by the computer which means the minimum specs are higher and it also requires USB 3.0 to transfer al that unprocessed video. The HD60S is better suited for streaming, while the HD60 is ideal for recording, editing and uploading at a later date.
We tested out the unit using a Mac and were initially concerned that our choice of computer might result in some unwanted niggles with Elgato's device, but thankfully such fears were unfounded. The unit doesn't come with an installation CD (and our laptop doesn't have a CD-ROM drive so it would have been useless anyway), so instead you are directed to Elgato's website to download the required Game Capture HD program. In short, getting everything set up was a breeze.
While everything is sold as "plug and play" these days it's still rare to find a piece of hardware of this type which "just works" - however, we're pleased to report that the Game Capture HD60 does just that. After attaching the bundled HDMI cable to our Switch (and running the Switch's HDMI cable through the TV) and linking the Game Capture HD60 to our MacBook Air, we were happily recording 60fps, 1080p footage within seconds. The preview shown on the laptop is naturally delayed so you need to keep your eyes on the television, but we found little to grumble about when it came to the core functionality of the Game Capture HD program.
Here are some examples of footage we captured using the device:
The ability to upload directly to YouTube is useful but most video creators will want to edit the recorded files as well - Game Capture HD does offer this functionality but it's very basic so you'll want to use a separate application to stitch your clips together, make edits and so on. But what's really great about the HD60 is just how portable it is; it's small enough to fit in your pocket and we've found that taking it off-site for capture purposes - such as press events and studio visits - isn't an issue at all. It's powered via the connection to your laptop's USB, which means you don't need to cart around a power supply, either.
While the HD60 isn't a newcomer in the arena of game capture, its relatively low cost, refreshing ease of use and highly portable nature make it throughly recommended. You can pick one up from Amazon US and Amazon UK for (at the time of writing) around $150 / £150.
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Thanks to Elgato for supplying the unit used in this review.
Comments 21
No Amazon link?!?
My brother just got this a month ago and he loves it. No surprises, really, as it seems like Elgato owns the game capture market nowadays. I still have my Hauppauge HD PVR 2 and it serves my just fine. It doesn't record at 60fps and needs to be plugged in, but I really don't take it anywhere anyways and it's difficult to stream above 30fps with my internet.
I got a HD60 ages ago and it's fantastic. For both capture and streaming. It's really easy to use even for a beginner (granted I'm not a beginner but you can see how easy it is). I do keep my old Game Capture HD for non-HDMI stuff too. Same software and all.
I'm still on the original Game Capture HD, mainly for retro capture. But I haven't gotten a better computer yet, so I'm holing off on getting an upgraded elgato until that happens. The HD does 720p/60 though, which was better than the others when I bought it.
Does the HD60 have any minimum system requirements? ..or does it generally work with your average PC?
Says it's low cost but doesn't give its price. I since looked it up. €190. Yikes. That's not for the casual gamer. I wouldn't have any real need for this. But gaming sites like this would put it to good use.
I'll be picking this up after my Switch! I've been meaning to get HD capture equipment for the longest time.
@NaviAndMii System requirements are on the Elgato product page, if you have an average PC from the last 4 years it should be fine for the most part.
I bought a cheap USB capture device for like £20, came with a splitter for composite, no HDMI though. Works a treat on Retro.
I guess all depends on how serious you are.
@Menchi187 Cheers for that, much appreciated ..looks like this model is only compatible with Windows 10 on PC?
The older style Game Capture HD looks like it works with Windows 7 (x64) though - and should do everything I'd need it to ..and it's a fair bit cheaper too, which doesn't hurt! Will probably get that instead then!
@NaviAndMii They both work on Windows 7. I used both the original GCHD and GCHD60 on Windows 7 for years before moving over to W10 this year. They probably just updated the "current" product info to the current OS.
I still have the non 60fps one which still works okay but eventually once I upgrade to a more powerful PC later this year I may considered getting this one just for the 60fps performance it offer.
There are so many cool moments I've already had in Breath of the Wild and ARMS that I wish Nintendo had implemented the video capture option on the Switch. Oh well, still gonna wait for it rather than get this but good to know options like this are available!
This is what I've used over the last couple of years for my Sm4sh footage - it's excellent
Will this thing capture video from a N3DS? I was led to understand that video capture from a 3DS was tricky or required specialized hardware.
@ohako You need your 3DS modded with a capture card that sits INSIDE the 3DS in order to do 3DS capture and this adds a port on your 3DS that sends the signal to a PC (I think through USB), which then allows you to capture the video on your PC using the right software. I believe the PC detects it as a video acquisition device or something like that. At any rate, you need a modded 3DS and it doesn't connect to an external capture device like this one, it connects straight to your PC.
@ohako Amazon sells such a device, but it costs upward 300 dollars, and I think that you have to send in your 3DS.
Are those the correct videos in the article?
Edit: ignore that, I was expecting Switch footage being captured, rather than anything HDMI. D'oh!!
I would definitely recommend using OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) instead of Game Card HD, it offers more features and it's also free. It's basically become a standard in recording/streaming videos.
@Damo Maybe you could add that to the article/guide?
I use an HD60 for capturing Wii U and Switch. Had a couple of minor problems, but always found workarounds and have been capturing videos happily ever since.
Just one little niggle - it's not obvious in the software whether it's actually recording or not; a slightly different shade of red on the button. So occasionally I get out of sync, starting each recording when the match ends and stopping it when the next match starts!
Damien, what were the specs of that MacBook Air? Was it the base 2017 model? And did you try streaming with it? That's what I'd like to try. I have the 1.8ghz Air which I know is slightly under the 2 ghz recommendation and not sure what sorts of problems I could run into.
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