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Adaptec GameBridge

The GameBridge makes it easy to save and store the video it captures on your computer or by archiving it to a CD or DVD. Instead of the video output of your game console of VCR going into your TV, the GameBridge allows your computer to view and capture it digitally. This will indeed make it easy to take screenshots and capture many glorious video game moments for both good (game reviews and lasting memories) and bad purposes (archiving embarrassing game moments and blackmail).

I'll admit that I had some trouble getting the GameBridge setup initially. Most of my problems won't affect normal customers, but it did affect the timeliness of this review. The task of installation was alright, but a little rougher than needed. Once I was up and running, everything worked just as advertised.

The setup of the GameBridge driver makes a check for the CD-ROM media or the installation will fail. So make sure you install from the CD-ROM and not off of your hard disk.

The GameBridge is all about capturing video. You can hook it up to virtually anything that has normal composite (red, white, yellow) or S-Video outputs. The suggested use is obviously for recording in-game content, but you could easily hook it up to your VCR or DVD player and transfer your home videos to your computer. It's important to note that it probably won't work on most copy-protected content due to the mechanisms they use to restrict illegal copying and piracy.

To test it out I warmed up my GameCube and popped in Super Mario Strikers, a game whose "instant replay" features emulate the main selling point of the GameBridge adapter. One of the best things about Strikers is watching your goals and saves replayed form multiple angles in glorified slow motion. Now with the GameBridge and perhaps some editing software this could be achieved on other games that are missing replay features.

Soon enough I was capturing bits of gameplay and playing a quick back and forth match on my computer. The image quality was decent, although there were some motion blur issues, but things would likely improve if I was using S-Video instead of the standard Composite input. My video clips were collected into folders for future viewing. I could also take screenshots, but I'll admit that it's a bit difficult to play and control the mouse on my computer at the same time. Oh my Star Cup for a remote!

This is a screenshot I took of my game-winning Super Strike goal.

There are several areas where the GameBridge could use more work, mostly the interface. The interface was a simple looking if not a bit sparse. I tend towards avoiding manuals unless absolutely necessary and tried to figure out most things on my own first. This led to a bit of frustration on my part since some parts of the video player and snapshot tools are obtuse and unconventional. For example, it took me too long to figure out how to switch to a full-screen mode. Nothing was labeled as such, and there wasn't an icon for it. Eventually, I clicked on the large border around the video clip and volia, fullscreen video. The geek in me wants easy keyboard shortcuts and more video playback features (like a 5 second replay button/shortcut) and the basic user in me wants a more conventional interface.

Ultimately, the GameBridge will work for those gamers without a TV or who want/need to play on their PCs. It will also help folks like my father who have loads of VHS-quality video that they want to store digitally on their machines. It works pretty well at providing a starting point for simple Video-In applications.

My wish is that it could work in conjunction with my TV for a more normal gameplay experience combined with the capability to record my best sessions of Tony Hawk. Especially if that would work in tandem (ie. I could play on my TV and record to my PC at the same time) with a remote control interface to trigger the starting and stopping of recording. In the end, even with it's limitations I now have an endless potential stream for cool icons, wallpapers and video clips of my favorite video game moments.