Key Takeaways
- CRKD has revealed a new controller in its NEO S range that comes with a five-fret accessory.
- The controller/accessory combo can be used to play Fortnite Festival without a guitar.
- The five-fret NEO S is available to pre-order now at CRKD and will be released on December 6, 2024.
For a while it felt like the guitar controller era of gaming had been firmly left in the past. However, the introduction of Fortnite Festival, and then the revival of the guitar controller by Riffmaster to accompany it, has turned that ship around. Now CRKD has followed suit with something a little different – a Fortnite Festival-themed NEO S attachment that lets you play the game mode without the need for a guitar at all.
CRKD is an industry leader when it comes to third-party video game accessories, perhaps best known for the Nitro Deck collection it launched in 2023 and then followed up on this year via the Nitro Deck Plus. It also revealed its NEO S range this year, a collection of retro controllers available in a variety of colors and designs. Its Fortnite Festival controller is a part of that collection.
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What sets the Fortnite Festival NEO S apart from the rest of the range is the five-fret attachment that comes with it. The accessory for the accessory clips onto the rectangular controller so that it has five Guitar Hero-style buttons along the bottom of it. To use it, you hold the controller vertically in your left hand with the d-pad at the bottom so that your fingers are resting on the fret buttons as they would when holding a regular guitar controller.
I’m sure the controller and its fret accessory has a left-handed mode too, although I couldn’t find confirmation of that on its store page.
CRKD Reveals Its Five-Fret Fortnite Festival NEO S Controller
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The controller won’t have a strum bar like a normal guitar controller, instead you will need to use your free hand to press a button on the face of the controller as you hit the right notes. Even though the controller and its accessory are Fortnite Festival-branded, CRKD does note that it can be used with other rhythm games. Rock Band 4 isn’t mentioned by name, but it seems likely it’ll work with what will be the last ever Rock Band game now Harmonix is working on Fortnite Festival.
CRKD’s fret accessory is only compatible with its range of NEO S controllers, but it comes with the matching pink and purple controller so no need to buy one separately. It’s not compatible with all platforms, though. The Fortnite Festival NEO S works with PC and Nintendo Switch, or you can use it with Xbox via Xbox Cloud Gaming. It’s not compatible with PS4 or PS5. You can pre-order the controller through the link in the box below ready for its release on December 6, 2024.
NEO S Purple Wave 5-Fret Fortnite Festival Edition
CRKD has added a Purple Wave controller to its NEO S collection, and this one is a little different from the others in the range. It comes with a five-fret accessory that can be used to play Fortnite Festival and other rhythm-based games.