Do You Use Console Screenshot/Video Capture?

[Moonface]

I usually find myself using the capture feature on my consoles quite often ever since I first got introduced to it with my PS4, and I'm curious how much everyone else uses the feature.

Most of my PS4/PS5 captures are video content since there's been so many times a game has bugged out on me or something that was funny enough to capture it. I need to see what new ways there are to upload that content online since I used to use the Facebook upload feature but that got removed years ago.
On the Switch however most captures are screenshots, either due to taking photos of my island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, really good posts in Splatoon 3 or using it to take down information about a puzzle in something like Zelda so I don't have to write it down to remember it.


I didn't really count PC in the thread title since it's a standard thing to capture screenshots of anything on that, but feel free to share anything about PC stuff that's a dedicated capture feature for a game somehow or something. I don't do much PC gaming so forgive my ignorance.

[Mr EliteL]

Yes I do, if something weird happens like a glitch or just some wacky unexpected event/movement occurs, usually video capture that. Or a cutscene I'd like to re-watch and not have to play through the game again to see it. Character interactions is another. Perhaps a good fight in Tekken/Smash Bros, although SSBU liked making past replays unviewable because of a patch and I CBA'd to save them elsewhere.

For Screenshots, a character pose, scenery, damage screenshot, stats screenshot to remember what a character had. Stuff like that.

[ShiraNoMai]

Smash's system being the way it is makes me question how they even coded their replay systems to operate. It's like it regenerates the scene using live assets each time it's played back (so it would require up-to-date logic from patches). But...why the hell would you make it like that???

[Moonface]

Smash's system being the way it is makes me question how they even coded their replay systems to operate. It's like it regenerates the scene using live assets each time it's played back (so it would require up-to-date logic from patches). But...why the hell would you make it like that???

According to the Smash Wiki, the replays in all versions of Smash record inputs only. It just wasn't a noticable problem until patches became a thing which would update the game mechanics and create problems with the inputs:

Because replays record inputs rather than a video of the match, it is possible for replay contents to differ from the original match when played back.

If a character or other element is loaded during a match faster than expected (such as because of pausing or online lag), then the replay of that match will "freeze" and finish loading the element before it can continue.

A common error noted in replays mostly experienced in Brawl is that they may "desync" over time; the effects vary, though among the most common are actions occurring that did not previously occur, excessive lag followed by significantly increased playback speed, and the replay abruptly ending. With the Pokémon Trainer, particularly unusual effects can occur, such as him sending out a Pokémon which never loads or leaves the revival platform. Replays of Wi-Fi matches are more likely to desync than local matches due to the frequent lag experienced in games, but local replays can also be subject to the problem. The cause of "desyncs" is unknown, though it is speculated it has to do with save data of replays becoming corrupted by some outside factor. In addition, it is possible for a replay that plays fine to randomly desynchronize when played again, and after some tries, play correctly again. Some Special Smash modifiers can also be responsible for desyncs, as some modifiers like Curry and Speed directly affect the speeds of characters and other actions.

Gameplay mods can also cause desyncs to occur, as many mods modify the characteristics of combatants, thus preventing the saved match from properly running. For similar reasons, Smash 4 warns players after they save their first replay that updates to the game can potentially cause replays from older revisions of the game to no longer function; furthermore, all updates that adjust game balance prevent the playing of older replays and provide an option to mass-delete them. Ultimate followed this example initially, but recent patches have addressed this issue by retaining old patch data, so older replays no longer desync and do not need to be deleted. This change is known to have existed since Update 6.1.0.

When uploading a replay to YouTube, there is a small chance that, at some point during the process of converting the replay into a video, the music will suddenly stop playing for a few seconds. If this happens, the game will erroneously state that the post was cancelled. Additionally, posting the video disables the ability to post screenshots on Miiverse or take screenshots using the Wii U's Image Share feature. In order to post screenshots online again, players have to restart the game.

[Dragon Lord]

Nope. Not unless I want to show something to a friend quickly, but I delete the screenshot off the system immediately after. Though I only really did that to show screenshots of Genshin stuff to Elite or my other Genshin friend, but now that I play Genshin on PC mainly, I just take screen captures there instead of on my PS5.

Screenshots and video captures just take up too much system storage after a while and I'd rather not bother with that. I don't really feel attached to any moments in games that I feel the need to keep a reminder of the moment.