CRKD is mining nostalgia for its latest guitar trio.
Stage Tour is poised to revive the rhythm game genre when it hits PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S on December 10, and prolific peripheral manufacturer CRKD is absolutely invited to the launch party. CRKD has designed three new Gibson guitars just for RedOctane Games’ new title, and they’re available to pre-order now through the official Stage Tour site or CRKD itself.
The Stage Tour Pro Guitar Collection includes a Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG and Gibson Explorer. The Gibson Les Paul Oxblood Edition is modeled after the iconic guitar of the same name and colorway, while the SG Midnight Blue Edition is based on an abandoned PS2-era controller concept for Guitar Hero II. And lastly, the 8K Gibson Explorer: 20th Anniversary Edition is a stark-white, lightning bolt-shaped beauty inspired by the classic X-Plorer Controller, which was created by Activision and the original RedOctane team for Guitar Hero II in 2007. (Both are obviously based on the famous Gibson Explorer, which dates back a lot further than the early ’00s.)
The Stage Tour Pro Guitar line features Hall effect click strum bars, new mechanical frets, LED neck lighting and ultra-low latency. That translates to polling rates of 500Hz wireless and 1,000Hz wired for the Les Paul and SG models. The 8K Gibson Explorer, of course, features a polling rate of 8,000Hz whether wired or wireless.
The new controllers are made in official collaboration with the rhythm gaming veterans at RedOctane, and so they feature a streamlined button and bar layout mirroring the official Stage Tour Kramer Wireless Guitar Controller. Kramer is available for $110 across each platform, alongside an official drum kit ($200) and microphone ($30 wireless). Note that the drum hardware will not be compatible with Switch 2 at launch, though drum parts can be played with Joy-Con 2s or a Switch 2 Pro Controller.
As denoted by its dark blue coloring, CRKD’s Gibson SG is an officially licensed PlayStation product, and it’s compatible with PS4, PS5 and PC. It costs $130.
The rusty red Les Paul comes in a version built for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC, or one that works with Android, PC and Switch. The Xbox edition is $130, while the multiplatform one is $120.
And finally, the Explorer is compatible with PC, Android and Switch, and it costs $130. It looks like this one won’t start shipping until mid-January, while the other two models will be available on Stage Tour‘s release day in December.
CRKD has an established and fruitful partnership with Gibson, already offering a line of rhythm game guitars inspired by the company’s classic silhouettes.
How and what to play
In terms of ways to play, Stage Tour supports lead guitar, bass, drums, vocals, keyboard and PC gamepads, and it has four main difficulty settings — Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert. As is tradition, there’s an additional Expert Plus difficulty mode just for drums. The game supports up to four players at a time locally, plus it has solo play, online leaderboards and cross-platform online co-op.
The Stage Tour release date was announced during Gamescom Opening Night Live on Tuesday, alongside a new trailer and the reveal of 20 new songs. The total number of unveiled tracks now sits at 45, and apparently that’s not even half, bringing the total number of songs to over 90 at launch. Here’s the list of confirmed titles, so far:
• “Bite Me” – Avril Lavigne
• “RATATATA” – BABYMETAL & Electric Callboy
• “Just Pretend” – Bad Omens
• “Blind and Frozen” – Beast in Black
• “Red Flag” – Billy Talent
• “Pump It” – Black Eyed Peas
• “MORE THAN YOU KNOW” – blink-182
• “Siren” – Castle Rat
• “I Fought the Law” – The Clash
• “Just Like Heaven” – The Cure
• “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” – The Darkness
• “Photograph” – Def Leppard
• “Rio” – Duran Duran
• “Bad Habits” – Ed Sheeran feat. Bring Me the Horizon
• “Get the Funk Out” – Extreme
• “Heartbreak Feels So Good” – Fall Out Boy
• “Land of Confusion” – Genesis
• “Square Hammer” – Ghost
• “Mimi’s Delivery Service” – Good Kid
• “Airhead” – Honey Revenge
• “Grace” – Jeff Buckley
• “The Unknowing” – Jfarrari
• “Jane!” – The Long Faces
• “The End” – Mammoth
• “The Motherload” – Mastodon
• “Tornado of Souls” – Megadeth
• “Lux Æterna” – Metallica
• “Kickstart My Heart” – Mötley Crüe
• “Starlight” – Muse
• “ballad of a homeschooled girl” – Olivia Rodrigo
• “Do Me Like That” – The Paradox
• “For a Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic” – Paramore
• “Just” – Radiohead
• “Dani California” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
• “Broken Dreams, Inc.” – Rise Against
• “In the Stars” – The Rolling Stones
• “Psychosocial” – Slipknot
• “All Star” – Smash Mouth
• “In the Meantime” – Spacehog
• “Terminator Oscillator” – Static-X
• “…Baby One More Time” – Tenacious D
• “Shut Up and Dance” – Walk the Moon
• “Island in the Sun” – Weezer
• “Teenage Dirtbag” – Wheatus
• “Sharp Dressed Man” – ZZ Top
