Rock Band was the foundation for some of my favorite childhood memories. I know for a lot of people that source was Guitar Hero, but the point stands: the game-ified version of rocking out is peak.
If you somehow weren’t already aware, Harmonix was acquired by Epic Games back in 2021. Now, Rock Band lives on in the form of Fortnite Festival.
Whether you’re already deep in the Fortnite world or have been aching for a chance to relive your Rock Band (sorry, Guitar Hero) glory days, I highly recommend picking up a guitar controller. All of the best ones are all on sale at Amazon for Prime Big Deal Days today.
CRKD and PDP Riffmaster Guitar Controllers on Sale for Prime Big Deal Days
Fortnite Festival is technically playable with a mouse and keyboard, but that’s not nearly as immersive as shredding on what feels like a real instrument. Thankfully, companies like CRKD and Turtle Beach released a steady stream of high quality controllers that are specifically compatible with the musical Fortnite mode as well as Rock Band 4.
The main downside to this new generation of controllers is the cost, making Prime deals particularly welcome.
If you’re just looking for the best possible deal, I’d go with the classic PDP Riffmaster, which offers dedicated models for Xbox, Switch 2, and PS5. The console variants have ranging compatibility with PC, but all of them happen to be 40% off. The discounted $89.99 price tag brings the controller just $10 shy of its lowest price of all time.
IGN got the chance to review the PDP Riffmaster, saying it’s a “terrific bit of kit with excellent button feel, extremely impressive battery life, and some very sensible quality-of-life tweaks.” It’s a close match for the original Rock Band Stratocaster, though with a quieter strum bar. The collapsible neck also offers some portability for taking the band on the road.
We had equally glowing praise for the CRKD Gibson Les Paul controllers. These offer a little more customization through the CRKD app and the option of a lower latency wired connection, ideal for the Clone Hero fanatics. Another benefit with CRKD is more color options, with discounts ranging up to 30% off across PS5, Xbox, and multiplatform variants.
Reddit users have entire threads dedicated to discussions over which controller is better, which I’d recommend perusing for more hands-on insight.
What Is Fortnite Festival?
If you aren’t already familiar with Fortnite Festival, expect a couple key differences from the classic console era of musical games.
First, the game features online multiplayer with a massive player base. Second, the song list is never set in stone.
Every Fortnite Festival season includes its own mix of free songs, while players can also buy songs to keep permanently. Yep, we’re talking microtransactions, with the game mode even getting its own Battle Pass. The current season is headlined by Lil Tecca, with previous seasons headlined by the likes of Hatsune Miku, Metallica, and Chappell Roan.
Blythe (she/her) is an Audience Development Coordinator at IGN who spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
