Considering that Google already had its foot in the door for video streaming online with YouTube, it is surprising that they did not also become the go to solution for livestreaming video games. That mantle was instead taken up by Ustream and Twitch (the latter now owned by Amazon, though there were rumors that Google was looking into acquiring the service).

There did use to be a YouTube livestreaming service, but it was a bust- now, industry insiders report that Google is planning on bringing the service back, and that it has already started to recruit engineers experienced in the field.

“The time is right as well, with Twitch moving into other areas such as music and so on. Google doesn’t want to be too far behind in the arms race,” they continued.

These same sources think that the two areas that Google will be targeting with its new service will be gaming and eSports, both of which, they feel, present Google with great opportunities.

“There’ll be huge opportunities for established streamers and organizations soon and I would say that the record numbers of eSports viewers are only going to grow when Google start promoting and partnering with these events.”

These sources claim that an announcement is imminent at E3 this year, so we’ll know soon either way. Personally, however, none of this sounds too far fetched to me.

In a sense, it’s like the classic handheld game system conundrum. Handheld game consoles have also found their existence questioned by non dedicated mobile game players (namely smartphones and tablets). Are these smartphones and tablets as good at playing games on the move as dedicated handhelds? No, but it hardly matters, does it? The average person is content playing Temple Run on his iPad.

Into a market like this, Elgato has released its newest game capture equipment, the Elgato Game Capture HD60. The obvious question here isn’t if it’s good – we’ll get to that in a minute, but the long and short of it is that it is, it’s very good – the question here is, who exactly is this made for? And is it good enough for them?

The packaging is small, simple, and to the point- a portend of the actual unit itself.

"If you're a first time user (of dedicated capture equipment in general), then it might be a little baffling, and just a little daunting: what exactly are you supposed to do with this thing?"

There are two things you realize when you first open up the Elgato Game Capture HD60 box- that the packaging is exceedingly elegant and simple, with just the capture equipment, and nothing else. And that the packaging is exceedingly elegant and simple, with just the capture equipment, and nothing else. This means that there is no documentation included, beyond a little diagram illustrating what each port on the unit does. If you’re a first time user (of dedicated capture equipment in general), then it might be a little baffling, and just a little daunting: what exactly are you supposed to do with this thing?

But see, even though the emphasis on the simplicity of packaging is almost Apple-like in nature, the statement that Elgato is making here is the exact opposite: this isn’t aimed at the casual user with a simplicity so obvious you don’t need any documentation to help you out. To an extent, that may stand true, but trivial matters such as finding and downloading the companion software for the capture card, that are instrumental in actually using the thing, are not included, nor does the unit initiate an automatic download on your computer when it is plugged in. It’s pretty obvious, the makers of the HD60 expect you to go online and track down the software, and download it yourself. They assume a little bit of pre-knowledge on your part. They assume that if you are buying this, you have to be an enthusiast, and an enthusiast knows how to do a fair bit. No need to baby them.

On the whole, this focus on staying out of the way serves the HD60 well. It’s a small, unobtrusive unit, it works incredibly well and exactly as you’d expect it to, there’s absolutely no fuss, and you don’t have to muck around with anything- as long as you have at least some idea of what you are doing, you just pull it out, plug it in, and it goes.

The unit itself is extremely small- it weights nothing, and is lighter than most TV remote controls. It’s hard to imagine something so small can provide such a range of gameplay sharing and streaming options, but there you have it.

"The HD60 is a powerful tool. It works as advertised (and then some more, since it seems to work with consoles that aren't plastered all over the packaging prominently), and as an external capture tool, it gives you complete control over what you capture, and how it is ultimately presented. "

The most amazing thing is how well it works, and with an incredible range of hardware- PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are both supported, as the box advertises all over the place, but it also reminds us via one small sticker that was probably added in at the last minute, so is the Wii U. That’s interesting, but it makes sense, as apparently, any HDMI output that isn’t HDPC encrypted is fair game. Essentially, this means that in addition to the Wii U, the Xbox 360 is also supported, although I can confirm that the PlayStation 3 is not- apparently, the PS3 outputs HDPC encrypted video, and the HD60 can’t seem to work with that.

The entire setup is easy: the HD60 essentially acts as a pass-through for your console, with it being the input for the HDMI chord from your console, and then a further HDMI chord connecting it to your TV. Finally, a USB cable connects the HD60 to your PC, where the Game Capture HD software lets you control your incoming feed.

Elgato promises us that this setup sidesteps the obvious issue of gameplay lag that another series of connections would create for your video. I can confirm that an extremely minor lag does exist (mostly confirmed by a very unscientific analysis of mirrored video output on my TV screen and Wii U controller). Nonetheless, it seems to be so minor that unless you are playing a frame perfect and demanding title such as an Arc Systems fighter, it’s rarely going to be an issue.

On the software end, once you have found the Game Capture HD software client that is necessary to use the HD60 hardware, you’ll find that it is a breeze to use. It’s a very full featured suite- it lets you record your gameplay, also telling you how much hard drive space you have left, so that if you’re running low, you can plan your gameplay recording accordingly. It also lets you edit your saved videos with a shockingly full featured editor. Finally, it also lets you stream your gameplay online directly, to sites including Twitch, uStream, and Youtube. Setting up a livestream is as easy as it can be (in other words, a first time user will probably balk at the process), giving you full control over not just your stream title and description and tags, but also the bitrate, streaming resolution, and servers you want to stream at, and the hardware and software here both perform admirably.

So, what’s the takeaway from this? The HD60 is a powerful tool. It works as advertised (and then some more, since it seems to work with consoles that aren’t plastered all over the packaging prominently), and as an external capture tool, it gives you complete control over what you capture, and how it is ultimately presented. Where the inbuilt console tools on the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 come with a set of caveats (the PS4, for example, seems to black out all indications of console UI, including Trophy notifications, when it comes to video capturing and sharing), this gives you the full deal, and a simple but powerful set of tools to give you full control over your experience.

To the average user, the necessary $180 investment that this card mandates is going to be an unnecessary cost- the tools provided for gameplay sharing and saving on their console is more than enough for them (and for the average Wii U user, it’s not even a consideration beyond maybe MKTV); but for the enthusiast, the HD60 is almost a necessity, and at that price, pretty much a steal. Extremely capable, extremely compatible, extremely powerful, extremely simple, the HD60 is an incredible tool for those who might be interested in sharing their gameplay with the world, and want full control over it.

The PlayStation 4 might have launched with better gameplay video sharing capabilities than Xbox One- it allowed for up to fifteen minutes of continuous video recording to Xbox One’s ten, and it supported both Twitch and Ustream to Xbox One’s Ustream support only- but the Xbox One has soon achieved parity, and even pulled ahead.

After allowing Twitch sharing (and at higher resolutions than PS4), Microsoft is now allowing gameplay video sharing over Youtube for Xbox One- the process remains as simple with Youtube as it was otherwise, and it potentially opens up native Xbox One streaming to a much wider audience.

In addition, Microsoft has also announced that the GoPro Channel app will be launching on Xbox 360 today, thus making good on a promise made back in January.

Microsoft seems to be working over time to make up for the lost time with the PS4’s lead over their console in terms of OS and console. This round of console wars should be pretty interesting.

[Xbox]

Sony’s PlayStation 4 has some highly integrated sharing features for video games and players, such as the ability to livestream your game play session over Twitch or uStream, or, for instance, just the ability to share your recorded gameplay or screenshots with the share feature. Today, Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced that both features have been resounding hits with gamers.

10% of nearly all the content on Twitch since the PS4’s initial launch under a month ago has come from PS4 users- we are talking 800,000 broadcasts and 7.1 million spectate sessions across Twitch and uStream, totaling to more than 20 million minutes of recorded gameplay.

The top games broadcast are the usual suspects (hint: they’re all shooters)- Killzone Shadow Fall, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts.

In addition to all the streaming and broadcasting, the Share button has been pressed a staggering 10.9 million times already.

Looks like Sony is on to something here with all these sharing features.