Nearly a month ago, I received the elgato Game Capture NEO for review. I’m a huge fan of capture cards for fun reasons. While most people will just capture their game footage or stream out into the Interwebs, I like trying out different connections and seeing what comes out of it.
So, what does ‘trying out different connections’ mean? That is a great question. I have some great answers for you. Let’s dig right into them.
The first stop for this review starts with video game history. I have video game systems spanning back to 1976 (Pong home edition) and I enjoy trying to stream them on Twitch. It’s a stupid passion, as I’m a video game history nut, and I used to teach it at the University of Kentucky (that’s how much I love it), but I thoroughly enjoy showing people systems and games they have never seen before. Do you know some folks have never seen an Atari 2600 before in their life? That’s just weird to me. And they have to see it. Streaming it is the best way.
The second stop on this journey is seeing how the Game Capture NEO interacted in a television studio environment. Currently, I’m a professor at the University of Maryland and I specialize in broadcast production. This includes studio environments, streaming bays, and even footage from the field. Anyway, I put the Game Capture NEO in this environment to see how it compared to our old reliable AVerMedia, which is fully embedded in our broadcast structure.
The final stop for this review was just connecting systems directly to the device and sending footage through first-party and third-party software. Having not been a huge fan of elgato’s HD or HD60 back in the day, mainly because of the software, I was skeptical that they had improved things for such a simple task. What did I find out? Keep reading.
Let’s get these going.
History repeats itself
The most complicated setup I have when it comes to old video game systems in my office starts with the RF-only Sears TeleGames PONG machine from 1976. To put that timeline in perspective for you, I was born to the world that year and I’m currently sitting at 48 years old. Now, before we move on with this wonderful experiment, let me throw credit where credit is due. Back in 2012, a smart gentleman named Patrick Helm helped me find a way to stream the PONG machine to the world. He told me the plan, and I executed it. Patrick is a helluva person and I will always be grateful for the solution he provided. It has served me tenfold in other areas since. He is a cool guy, too. So, yay, Patrick Helm.
Now, what Patrick discovered is that if you take the PONG machine, run it through a VCR using a $4 RF to coax converter, run RCA cables from said VCR into an RCA to HDMI adapter, and then HDMI from that into a game capture device, you should be able to stream live on Twitch. There are rather expensive devices that can do this easier but having a broken VCR work as a passthrough and spending the least amount of money (maybe $30) for the setup seemed like a better educational route to go. I have stacks of VCRs in my office for this very trick. The first time I tried this I was working with a Game Capture HD, if my memory serves me correctly. The software that came with that at the time was janky at best. Seeing a signal was hit or miss. When OBS and StreamLabs started taking off, my choice of software changed and the results were much easier to receive. I had to give up my Game Capture HD and replace it with an AVerMedia device to make this happen consistently.
Twelve years later, the tech world has gone full circle and now I’m back with the Game Capture NEO. This time around, much better results. I was able to receive a signal from the PONG machine using this device in the specified way above. I could see PONG, the Atari 2600, and various other systems through the years. It wasn’t complicated, it was quite easy, as the connections were clean and simple to set up.
Since the Game Capture NEO has three connections to worry about, HDMI (IN-OUT) and USB-C as power, there’s no real trick to how it works. But alas, I can now stream my old consoles in 1080p/60 for no good reason. I do have a template in OBS that rectifies at least the aspect ratio, so no biggie on that, but it’s nice to have a simple piece of hardware like this that doesn’t require much effort to run.
History can finally repeat itself.
Studio ready
One of the courses that I teach for UMD is an advanced studio course where kids design a 30–45-minute show that streams on Twitch. The designing portion of the course involves creating a complicated workflow and trying to figure out on paper (before they execute it) what tech they will need to get what they want done. The course is designed to give kids hands-on training with technology and get that stigma of ‘I don’t know tech’ out of their heads.
Anyway, where does the Game Capture NEO get involved in this equation? Good question and here is the answer. In one of our shows this semester, we wanted to split a signal from a PlayStation 5 into two separate televisions. To do that, we had to either have an HDMI splitter, which we didn’t do that night or have an HDMI to SDI converter that splits two different directions. In between all of that mess, we had to take that signal and split it to a laptop so that it could stream out to the world. Not an overly complicated task but one that would require steady precision in signal management.
Why did we need to split the signal? The signal needed to be split so that we could send one signal to a television monitor on set so the hosts could see it (and play the game — which were a bevy of holiday-themed games), one signal so that it could be sent to another television for engineer monitoring, and then a final signal so that we could send it to Discord and be pulled into our TriCaster Elite 2. What could go wrong? Not a lot.
What we did was have the PlayStation 5 (after its HDCP was turned off) connect directly via HDMI into an HDMI-to-SDI converter. From there, we pulled an SDI out (there are two outputs) signal going directly to the television for the hosts, used the second SDI out to go into an SDI-to-HDMI converter, then looped SDI out into the engineering television, and used the second converter’s HDMI out to go into the Game Capture NEO. Then we used the Game Capture NEO via USB-C right into an Alienware laptop and pulled it into Discord for the TriCaster Elite 2. All of that worked beautifully, and the Game Capture NEO has now become the new centerpiece for our class and how things are planned out. I can tell you that this little puppy is going with me everywhere in 2025.
For this review, the studio usage of the Game Capture NEO worked swimmingly.
Improved software simplified
The simplest of tests with the Game Capture NEO was how it reacted with just a direct connection from the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X right into my Alienware machine. This is how most people will use it and it’s certainly worth a mention, if not only for the software portion of the test.
The Game Capture NEO is compatible with elgato’s 4K Capture Utility, OBS, and StreamLabs. I’m sure other software uses it, but the last two are my go-to, and the first is where I wanted to see how complicated things had gotten since our last meeting.
I can safely say that OBS and StreamLabs work just as expected with this device. The picture comes through crystal clear and the audio does as well. In that respect, it’s just as advertised and just like other capture devices. Bravo, the first hurdle is passed.
The 4K Capture Utility software from elgato, which is built for recording footage only, does an admirable job, though it wouldn’t be my go-to between the above three. This software was built on simplicity and it does an outstanding job of introducing game capture to a new audience that hasn’t used an OBS or StreamLabs before in their life. It does extend its purpose out a bit with the ability to hook up a mic and even screen capture shots, but streaming isn’t a thing with this software. Honestly, that is okay. It’s a good entry point into post-production footage and the capture quality of this is top-notch coming in at 1080p/60, the highest the device can handle. I think that elgato knows that it has to work with other companies making software so that their hardware can branch out a bit. And this software proves their acknowledgment of that. But it is good, well-built, and stable.
Now, for the seasoned folks, you needn’t worry about StreamLabs or OBS requiring special software for this device. It’s plug and play and boom. It works as advertised. Simple-simple-SIMPLE.
Why tell you all these trials and errors?
Instead of giving you a traditional review of the hardware, which you can find anywhere, I wanted to prove that this little beautiful wonder could work in different environments. I know there are serious streamers and broadcasters out there that spend quite a lot of cash finding ways and solutions to do new and innovative things. It’s always best to give varying examples and present possible roadmaps for future content by testing a device out with different connections and ideas. And for a $99 device, it does quite a bit and works as you might think it should. It can reach 1080p/60, actually deliver that quality, and remain working without a hitch for long periods. I have seen it with my own eyes and I’m mightily impressed with it on varying levels.
Now, I was actively avoiding elgato capture devices because of my bad experience with the HD and HD60 back in the day. I think the software was the worst part of that equation, but now everything seems to be fine both hardware and software. I’ll certainly look in this direction when we refresh our studio and streaming bays. It’s a great solution at a very inexpensive price point.
On that note, let’s wrap this review up.
Conclusion
The Game Capture NEO from elgato is a hardware marvel that can live in various broadcast environments. The $99 price point is a steal of a deal when compared to other devices of this type. You should look hard at it, especially if you’re entering the streaming game.
