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I just have to ask this because it has been on my mind:
How do you record playing video games without having a camera pointed at the screen? I have seen people on Youtube recording it to a DVD or some other fancy junk. Problem is, I don't have the extra cash to do something I might do once in a while and I play my DVDs on my 360 or PS3 (depending in what room of the house I am in). I did hear that you can do it with a digital video camera though. Just wanted to see if anyone has suggestions.

Fraps is the PC recorder of choice for many people...
For PS3's or 360's you'd need a capture card...

Yeah, for PC you need a program like fraps, and Xsplit if you want to add good commentary etc. Running fraps while playing a game however does raise the system requirements quite a bit.

For console you need some form of capture card. I use a hauppage HD PVR but that clocks in at 180 bucks. Does record up to 1080p and offers a lot of video codecs to record in.

Anyway, if you want something that actually looks good and isn't ruined by watermarks you will be paying. Last time I checked Fraps was 30 bucks.

If you don't want to pay and don't plan to do vids longer then 10 mins, use bandicam. The watermark isn't THAT obvious, so yeah.

Horrible quality though and often has sync problems with sound (In my personal experience anyway.)

Anyway, to OP, for what purpose do you need to record cause that drastically alters what you may need.

My buddies n i used FRAPS for our lets plays on WoT, sadly we chose the wrong kind of game to get people to watch. On the cheaper end you can use FRAPS, or if you go all out you will need a bunch of fancy recording gear and cables

Livestream has Procaster, which is a decent program (uploads smoothly, has the option to record in game, no payment required, no watermark). Only downside is that the quality is kinda lousy.

Also, XSplit is a free program, but be aware that you cannot record full screen games without paying for the program. If you try to capture everything that's happening on screen as you play, the recording will spaz out, flickering like crazy.

Edit: Should mention though, that with XSplit you CAN easily record windowed games. It's just that not all games have a windowed mode option.