Record Your Wii Gaming with the XCM V-Box Wii VGA/USB Cable

If you’ve got an upgraded computer monitor, but a crummy television set, you may want to look into playing video games on your computer monitor instead! To point you in the right direction, we have added this latest product for Wii gamers: The XCM V-Box Wii VGA/USB Cable.



Now, you can experience crystal clear gaming on computers that support USB 2.0 ports! What makes this even cooler – is the mere fact that you can capture in-game images or record your gameplay to share with family and friends! Maybe you found a secret passageway or an Easter egg in your favorite game and want to show the world how you found it – then this would be the best way to get your secret out there, whether it’s off of your website, a discussion forum, or even through media channels like YouTube.

There will also be a future add-on recorder so you can record DVD/VCD/CD onto your PC or through the V-Box from the disc player to your computer’s hard drive! So there won’t be a need to drop some dollars on video converters. You also have an auto-play function, so you can watch your replays over and over again!

In terms of audio and visual support, you will be allowed to save images as JPEG and GIF. For videos, you can save in a number of formats, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVI, VCD, DVD, and SVCD. The V-Box is also compatible with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista operating systems only. The Game Train currently has the V-Box for PAL models available in stock and NTSC models available as pre-orders as of today.

Ready to improve your gaming lifestyle? Then add the XCM V-Box VGA/USB Cable to your cart today for only £34.49 - and if you order before 1PM, your order will be processed today!

How to Get Sound From the Playstation 3 with the HD Fury Gamer or a DVI Cable

If you want to play your PS3 on a PC monitor using either a HDMI to DVI cable (if your monitor supports DVI and HDCP - be careful as most don't) or the HDMI to VGA HD Fury Gamer Cable (which doesn't require a HDCP monitor and uses standard PC VGA connections), you may be confused as to how you get sound out from your Playstation 3.

Neither the VGA or the DVI connections are capable of carrying sound. This means you cannot just plug the HD Fury Gamer cable from the PS3 to your VGA monitor and expect to hear sound. There are two options for enabling sound in this situation:

1) Digital Optical Output
If you have an amp that supports a digital optical audio connection, then this option is your best solution. One end plugs into the optical output on the PS3 and the other into your amp. You'll be able to get the highest fidelity 5.1 Dolby Digital sound on your films and games with the optical cable.


2) Red and White Phono Stereo Output (from AV Composite Cable)

If you aren't fortunate enough to have an optical amp, there is another alternative. At the same time as having a HDMI-DVI or HD Fury Gamer cable plugged into your PS3, you can also plug in the standard red/white/yellow AV composite cable that comes in the package with a new PS3, or separately available for £3.99.

The HDMI output has a separate port to the AV Multi out (see pic), which means both cables can be plugged in together. In this way, you can get a high-def PS3 image on your monitor with analog sound supplied by the red/white phonos, either plugged directly into your speakers or via your computer. To set it up, you just need to navigate the 'display options' in the PS3 menu, selecting HDMI output for video and analog output for sound.

Has this been useful to you? Let us know and leave a comment!

TheGameTrain.com is Official UK Reseller and Distributor of HDFury Products

We are now the official UK Reseller and Distributor of the HDfury Blue, Red and Green. The HDFury lets you plug any HDMI source (Blu-Ray player, PS3 etc) into a VGA screen without a HDMI input. We know there's a lot of fans of this little device, especially those of you who like to play your Playstation 3 on your PC Monitor, but find you get a black screen when you connect them together. The quality is extremely high with very, very little (no?) degradation in the picture. Check out a few shots below:



So what does Official Reseller mean then? Well, you get the same great service (same-day shipping from the UK, people you can actually talk to who know the products inside-out, flexible returns policy), only now at an even cheaper price. Yes, all the original HDFury models (Blue, Red and Green) are now a bargain-licious £72.99. Check out our links on the official HDFury.com site here.

If you're interested in volume amounts of the HDFury, please get in touch.

Those of you interested in the HDFury Gamer - we are also the UK Reseller/Distributor and we expect stock in next week. Stay tuned to the blog for a definitive release date. As soon as have it, we will ship it out same-day. Get your pre-order now for just £49.99 before the price goes back up to £54.99 once it's officially released!

Playing High Def Playstation 3 on a VGA PC Monitor - The Definitive Guide

Have you ever wanted to play your Playstation 3 on your PC Monitor? Most monitors support HD resolutions of at least 1024 x 768, which gives the equivalent 720p picture of an expensive HDTV. Heck, a lot of monitors support 1080p these days (1920 x 1080). So why can't you just buy a Playstation 3 VGA cable and plug it right into the back of a monitor? Well, because Sony being Sony, things are never as simple as they should be and there are various 'protection' measures to get around first.

Unlike the more user-friendly Xbox 360, there has never been an official Playstation 3 VGA cable released, and it's extremely unlikely that Sony will ever release one.

Without getting overly technical, the root of the problem lies in the PS3's insistence on HDCP or 'High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection', which is designed to protect audio/video content as it travels over HDMI or DVI connections. Think of it as Macrovision for High-Def content. In short, the PS3 won't allow a picture from a HDMI cable unless your screen supports HDCP. While most modern HDTVs (think post 2004) do support HDCP, there's loads that won't, and virtually no standard PC monitors will support it.

PS3: HDMI Vs. Component

So where does that leave us? There are two ways to get High-Def from a Playstation 3 - through a component connection which looks like this:


Or through the HDMI connection which looks like this:

If you have a 1080p screen, you'll be able to get full 720p/1080p from either type of cable. There are though, several crucial differences between the two:

- The component connection is analog; signal information can be lost over the cable, especially with longer leads.
- The HDMI connection is digital, no signal information is lost so there is no loss in image quality.
- The Playstation 3 encodes a HDMI signal with HDCP, meaning you must have a screen that supports HDCP (unlikely on a PC monitor).

PS3 on VGA Monitor

Of course, at the moment, neither of these solutions help us to get our PS3 to display on our PC monitor which uses a VGA connection, but it's important to know the background on the connections before you make a decision on which cable is best for you.

As there is no native PS3 VGA connection, all the available solutions involve converting either a component or HDMI signal into a VGA input.

Option 1: The Component to VGA Converter

The way this works is by linking a PS3 Component Cable from the Playstation 3 to a box of tricks in the middle, with a VGA cable coming out and linking to your monitor.

There are two models available, the Mayflash YPbPr to RGBHV Transcoder at £39.99 which comes with a mains adapter and jack to jack connection for transferring sound.

There is also the more recent XCM VGA Box at £44.99. This is powered by USB (either PC or console ports) and includes free Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 component cables:

Both boxes include a 'VGA passthrough', which means you can have your PC plugged in at the same time and just flick the switch whenever you want to choose between your PC/console, saving you from the constant hassle of unplugging/replugging the cables in.

Option 1a: The PS3 VGA Cable

Now hang on, I thought I said there wasn't a native VGA cable for the PS3? Well there isn't. The Mayflash PS3/Wii VGA cable at £29.99 is actually an all in one Component to VGA cable with PS3/Wii inputs on the one end and a VGA output on the other. You can tell it's converting the component signal as you need to set your PS3 up in component mode (rather than HDMI or AV) in order to get a HD picture.

Power is drawn directly from the console. While it gives a similar picture quality to the other component to VGA converters, it lacks some of the flexibility as you can only use it on the PS3 or Wii. And of course, it lacks the VGA passthrough (though you could use a VGA switch).

Option 2: The HDMI to VGA Converter

Because the PS3 forces HDCP onto the HDMI connections (meaning your screen must support HDCP), you need a device that does more than convert the HDMI connection to a VGA connection. The HDFury is a unique device that effectively 'adds' HDCP support onto your unsupported VGA screen. This means you can use your PS3 on any monitor and have support HDTV resolutions. As the signal is digital HDMI, there is less quality degradation so the picture quality extremely high, superior to the component to VGA converters.

There are two types of HDFury available, the HDFury Gamer at £49.99 which is an all-in-one HDMI to VGA cable, that adds HDCP support to your monitor:


Then there is the standalone HDFury at £74.99, which is a VGA to DVI adapter (which adds HDCP) that needs to be used in conjunction with a HDMI - DVI cable at £7.99 on a Playstation 3. So, the setup goes PS3 to HDMI-DVI cable to HDFury to VGA input on your PS3 :


There you have it! A comprehensive guide on how to play your PS3 games in full high def on your PC VGA monitor. Check out our sequel post soon which include screenshots from each device!

PS3 on the Mayflash 1080p RGBHV to YPbPr Transcoder (Component to VGA Converter)

In the follow up to our guide on how to setup the popular Mayflash 1080p YPbPr to RGBHV Component to VGA Converter with the Nintendo Wii, we now present a step by step guide to getting the Playstation 3 to work with the Mayflash VGA Transcoder. If you're having problems setting it up, just follow our simple ten step guide. This tutorial works with all types of monitors - LCD, TFT, CRT etc.

Please note: not all monitors support 480\ progressive/interlaced so you may find that PS2 games/DVDs won't run on your monitor, as they display in 480p/i. It will play all your PS3 games perfectly in 720p/1080p High Definition though..

The advantage of using this type of component to VGA transcoder over a HDMI to DVI cable
is that your monitor doesn't need to be HDCP (High Defintion Content Protection) compliant, as the PS3 only enforces this when played through HDMI cables.


Anyway, on with the tutorial:


1. Connect your PS3 to a conventional TV using either a SCART, Svideo or composite cable.

2. Turn on your PS3. In the main menu, scroll across to 'Settings' and then select 'Display Settings' and 'Video Output Settings'.

3. You're offered various choices of connections. Select 'Component / D-Terminal'. The screen will go blank for a few seconds while it recalibrates and you'll be asked whether you want to keep these settings. Select 'Yes.'

4. The next screen will ask you what resolutions you want to select. Working within the parameters of your individual monitor, check each box.

5. Press right on your controller's D-Pad. You will hear a 'click' sound and the screen will go blank. You won't be able to see the screen, but press left on the D-pad and then press X.

6. With your PS3 still turned on, unplug the video cable from the back of the PS3 and plug in your PS3 Component Cable where the AV cable was before.

7. Plug the red/green/blue ends of the component cable into the approprioate sockets of the Mayflash VGA box.

8. Plug your monitor's VGA cable into the 'VGA output' socket on the Mayflash VGA box and plug in the AC power adapter. A yellow LED should come on to indicate it's receiving power.

9. Make sure the switch on the VGA box is set to "YPbPr".

10. The PS3 will now be displayed on your monitor in glorious High Definition. You should be at the 'save settings' screen, which will then lead you onto the audio output options. The spare red/white phonos on the component lead will provide your speakers with analog audio.

Getting the Wii and the Mayflash Component to VGA Converter (YPbPr to RGBHV) to Play Together

Component to VGA transcoders are very useful devices. Amongst other things, they'll let you play your next get consoles on your PC screen in full HD glory.

To use the Mayflash 1080p Component to VGA Converter (YPbPr to RGBHV) box with your Nintendo Wii, you need to set your Wii to 480p progressive scan mode. Unfortunately, if you don’t have access to a HDTV it’s a little more tricky to set your Wii to display 480p.

Follow this tutorial and you’ll learn how to set your Wii to 480p mode without a HDTV so that it will work with a VGA converter on your monitor. This guide only needs to be done once:

1. Plug the component cable into the Wii

2. Plug the green plug from the component cable into the yellow phono input of a regular non-HDTV. This will give you a black and white screen from your Wii.

3. Navigate to the Wii Setup Menu.

4. Select ‘Screen Resolution’

5. Select 480p.

6. Insert the green plug, along with the other component cable plugs into the VGA Box

7. Switch off the Wii.

8. Power the AC adapter on at the mains and connect your VGA cable to the VGA box and the PC monitor.

9. Enjoy 480p Wii games on your PC monitor!

How to Play PSP Games on a VGA PC Monitor

Many gamers find that they prefer to use their PC monitors for their gaming, whether because their VGA monitor offer a bigger or better quality screen or simply for the sake of convenience. While there have been VGA solutions for the Xbox 360, Wii, PS2 and PS3 for some time, until now there’s been no way to play your PSP on a VGA PC screen.

Using the XCM 1080p VGA box along with a PSP Lite (oops, sorry Nintendo) PSP Slim Component cable, not only can you play your PSP games on your monitor, you can do it in high definition. This feature only works on the new PSP Slim model as it allows video output.

The XCM VGA box is designed to convert a HD component signal from a next gen console (PS3, 360 or Wii) into a VGA signal that can be played on a standard monitor, maintaing the high definition format and suffering no picture quality degradation. It also has a passthrough so you can connect your PC to it at the same time and just flick between your console/PC with the switch (if you’re feeling extra techy you can wire up more than one console with a component switch box as well, but there’ll be time for that in another post…)

The great news is that the XCM VGA box works with the PSP Slim using a standard PSP Component cable. The display is a little bordered to reflect the smaller screen used on the PSP but retains the high resolution and vibrant colours that would appear on the PSP itself, there's no picture degradation. It’s a simple eight step process to get your PSP Slim running on your PC screen. Here are the instructions:

1. Connect the PSP Slim Component Cable to the XCM 1080p VGA box.
2. Connect the 1080p VGA USB power cord to your PC
3. Turn on 1080p VGA Box.
4. Turn on PSP Slim.
5. In the PSP menu, select ‘Switch video output’ and set the ‘Display video output on a connected device’.
6. If there is no picture on your monitor, switch ‘input format on/off on the VGA Box.
7. Some monitors don’t support 480i resolution, so you may need to set your PSP to output 480p.
8. Enjoy the games!

To use your PSP Lite on a normal HDTV screen that natively accepts a component input, you just need to plug your PSP Component Cable into your TV and follow this condensed tutorial:

1. Connect the PSP Slim Component Cable from your PSP into your TV.
2. Turn on PSP Slim.
3. In the PSP menu, select ‘Switch video output’ and set the ‘Display video output on a connected device’.
4. For the best quality picture, set your PSP to output 480p.
5. Enjoy the games!