So, you want to be a pro gamer? If you've been reading these articles, then you have been picking up bits and pieces of what we've experienced in competitive gaming. We've given you a lot of basics, but there's one detail we want to highlight this week that will help improve your competitive play and is an essential piece of equipment for any competitive gamer: a Capture card.
What is a capture card? It's a piece of computer hardware that allows you to send a video signal to your PC and allows you to record what is on the screen. In this particular use of a capture card, it is for video footage of the game you're playing. This article isn't about how to set up your capture card nor is it a guide to the ones that are best. Instead, we're going to tell you why it's important for any serious competitive gamer to have a capture card as part of their arsenal of tools.
The prices of capture cards can vary from pretty cheap to expensive (High Def), depending on what kind of quality you're looking to capture. If you have light pockets, you might ask, "why save what little money you have to eventually purchase a capture card?" Trust us, in the long run, it's one of the main tools that will help you to improve your game.
Naturally, if you want to improve your game, it's going to take practice, practice and more practice. But how is all of this practice going to benefit you if you can't analyze your mistakes? A person's memory, especially during intense competitive situations, is not reliable. The only surefire way to know what mistakes you have made is with recorded video of your match from YOUR perspective.
Here is how to use it: Let's say you've got a GameBattles tournament match that you are about to play, so you start recording. Ok, game's over, and let's face it, you sucked and made a lot of errors. How do you fix that? You go back to your computer, watch over the footage of your game and you analyze the hell out of it. Find and pick apart the moments you were the strongest, weakest, and explore how you could have turned the situation around at certain key moments. Capture cards give you the ability to dissect your gameplay without the bias of your memory under stress.
There are other reasons to own capture cards that goes beyond improving your game. Not only do you learn how you play, but you are also receiving intel by watching the other team. If you're playing a specific team, one that you probably will play against in the future, you can use the video that you've recorded on your capture card to learn some of their strategies, review their play style and then come up with strategies and tactics to work around them. This is a great asset to have on your side. Be a smart gamer, keep your eyes open and analyze everything.
There are two more significant reasons why you should obtain a capture card: Proof and Exposure. If you're competing in an online tournament, always, always use a capture card to record your match. This is your proof. If, by chance, the team you're playing is not very honest and tries to cheat to steal the game, by recording the match, you have proof of what happened and can cover your ass instead of letting the other team pull one over you.
Exposure. What do we mean by exposure? I'm sure by now you've seen tons of videos with different forms of gameplay and montages from other players. With a capture card as part of your gamer tool box, you've got something that can help promote you as a player and display some of those sick kills you are developing. Play random matches and record them. Take the best pieces of those matches and edit them together with music to create a montage. Montages are a competitive gamer's promotional materials. If you're trying to build your name, footage of your awesome gameplay will help you do that. Capture your best moments, post it on Youtube or other file sharing sites and watch it spread like a virus.
I've provided you with the why, now it's up to you to go out there and purchase a capture card to improve your game. Look at it this way, it's an investment into your career as a competitive gamer. Many top organizations and teams, like vVv Gaming, will require you to have one. In order to make money, sometimes you have to spend it. There are no negative reasons to owning a capture card. Hell, if you're the creative sort, you can use it to create some Machinama, short videos that have characters and a story but use a created world already provided. So be a smart gamer and get a capture card, it's an invaluable tool.
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So there you have it! If you wanna be a pro gamer, you've gotta be ready to save your pennies and get a capture card. It makes perfect sense to me. It's just like when pro athletes look at tapes of their games to analyze their mechanics and strategies.
What is a capture card? It's a piece of computer hardware that allows you to send a video signal to your PC and allows you to record what is on the screen. In this particular use of a capture card, it is for video footage of the game you're playing. This article isn't about how to set up your capture card nor is it a guide to the ones that are best. Instead, we're going to tell you why it's important for any serious competitive gamer to have a capture card as part of their arsenal of tools.
The prices of capture cards can vary from pretty cheap to expensive (High Def), depending on what kind of quality you're looking to capture. If you have light pockets, you might ask, "why save what little money you have to eventually purchase a capture card?" Trust us, in the long run, it's one of the main tools that will help you to improve your game.
Naturally, if you want to improve your game, it's going to take practice, practice and more practice. But how is all of this practice going to benefit you if you can't analyze your mistakes? A person's memory, especially during intense competitive situations, is not reliable. The only surefire way to know what mistakes you have made is with recorded video of your match from YOUR perspective.
Here is how to use it: Let's say you've got a GameBattles tournament match that you are about to play, so you start recording. Ok, game's over, and let's face it, you sucked and made a lot of errors. How do you fix that? You go back to your computer, watch over the footage of your game and you analyze the hell out of it. Find and pick apart the moments you were the strongest, weakest, and explore how you could have turned the situation around at certain key moments. Capture cards give you the ability to dissect your gameplay without the bias of your memory under stress.
There are other reasons to own capture cards that goes beyond improving your game. Not only do you learn how you play, but you are also receiving intel by watching the other team. If you're playing a specific team, one that you probably will play against in the future, you can use the video that you've recorded on your capture card to learn some of their strategies, review their play style and then come up with strategies and tactics to work around them. This is a great asset to have on your side. Be a smart gamer, keep your eyes open and analyze everything.
There are two more significant reasons why you should obtain a capture card: Proof and Exposure. If you're competing in an online tournament, always, always use a capture card to record your match. This is your proof. If, by chance, the team you're playing is not very honest and tries to cheat to steal the game, by recording the match, you have proof of what happened and can cover your ass instead of letting the other team pull one over you.
Exposure. What do we mean by exposure? I'm sure by now you've seen tons of videos with different forms of gameplay and montages from other players. With a capture card as part of your gamer tool box, you've got something that can help promote you as a player and display some of those sick kills you are developing. Play random matches and record them. Take the best pieces of those matches and edit them together with music to create a montage. Montages are a competitive gamer's promotional materials. If you're trying to build your name, footage of your awesome gameplay will help you do that. Capture your best moments, post it on Youtube or other file sharing sites and watch it spread like a virus.
I've provided you with the why, now it's up to you to go out there and purchase a capture card to improve your game. Look at it this way, it's an investment into your career as a competitive gamer. Many top organizations and teams, like vVv Gaming, will require you to have one. In order to make money, sometimes you have to spend it. There are no negative reasons to owning a capture card. Hell, if you're the creative sort, you can use it to create some Machinama, short videos that have characters and a story but use a created world already provided. So be a smart gamer and get a capture card, it's an invaluable tool.
*************************************
So there you have it! If you wanna be a pro gamer, you've gotta be ready to save your pennies and get a capture card. It makes perfect sense to me. It's just like when pro athletes look at tapes of their games to analyze their mechanics and strategies.
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