After 15 years, the ridiculous Guitar Hero DS fret grip accessory has made an unlikely comeback for Fortnite Festival

2024-11-27

GamesBattle RoyaleFortniteAfter 15 years, the ridiculous Guitar Hero DS fret grip accessory has made an unlikely comeback for Fortnite FestivalWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: CRKD)

The CRKD Neo S controller

In 2008, the rhythm game craze was so intense that even the portable Nintendo DS was not immune - soActivisionmade a handheld fret accessory called the Guitar Grip that let you hold the console while playing a miniaturized version of Guitar Hero. Now, with Fortnite Festival helping bring rhythm gaming back into vogue, the people behind many of those original plastic instruments are keeping the spirit of Guitar Hero DS alive.

CRKD has just announced the NEO S Purple Wave controller, a Fortnite Festival-compatible device that works across PC, Switch, and mobile devices. If you take a regular gamepad, make it boxy, and wrap the old Guitar Grip around the outside, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what to expect. It’s not quite the authentic Guitar Hero DS experience - it doesn’t look like the external buttons will just wrap around your Switch or phone - but it offers such a similar way to play that all the old-school Guitar Hero fans are making the same comparisons.

Fortnite Festival Fret Attachment for NEO S • Official Trailer - YouTubeWatch On

Fortnite Festival Fret Attachment for NEO S • Official Trailer - YouTube

“While CRKD is not Red Octane, the majority of the hardware team remains as the core product development team at CRKD,” the company says in ablog post, “with a community focus on bringing premium, innovative, collectible gaming gear to fans around the world.” Red Octane is, of course, the hardware company responsible for the original Guitar Hero controllers, though they only consulted on the Guitar Grip device back in the day.

yeah man? https://t.co/q3FOge6diF pic.twitter.com/qfZhxneBx1November 26, 2024

Perhaps most excitingly, CRKD says that the NEO S is just the start of “a small portfolio of rhythm gaming products” set to launch over the “next six months.” This already has the rhythm gaming faithful hopeful that CRKD is going to launch a fresh line of proper guitar controllers in the classic Guitar Hero style.

PDP, the company that made the later iterations of the Rock Band controllers, launched its own guitar peripheral earlier this year in thePDP Riffmaster, but it’s naturally in the Rock Band style - meaning it has the same mushy strum bar that annoyed a certain set of rhythm game fans (like me) back in the day. So my fingers are crossed that CRKD might give us an alternative with that delightfully clicky, precise Guitar Hero feel. In the meantime, the spirit of the Guitar Grip lives on.

The NEO S Purple Wave is currently available for $59.99 onCRKD’s official site. It’s expected to begin shipping on November 29.

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