It’s been a while since I got excited by a controller, let alone a third party one. Even when I’ve bought new, and seemingly fancy, official controllers for my Xbox Series X, I’ve always just seen them as necessary accessories to fulfil a purpose.

So I was pretty sceptical when I heard about third party accessories label, CRKD (pronounced ‘cracked’; don’t be mad at me, I don’t make the rules), and their range of collectible controllers. Having controllers in different colourways is hardly anything new, so just why would these Neo S Bluetooth Controllers be any different?

Turns out that with just a few very unusual features, the CRKD ‘collect-’em-all’ proposition is very tantalising indeed.

Let’s start at the beginning though. There are ten different variations of the Neo S controller available currently (a few limited editions have already come and gone, and more are in the pipeline); as a fan of the comics, I opted for the Hellboy Limited Edition version, which is adorned with a gorgeous illustration by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, and is bundled with a cute little charging stand (which itself has the classic Hellboy logo on the front). It’s slightly higher in price than other controllers in the range, which don’t have a charging stand included, though these will soon be available to buy separately.

The controller itself is beautifully packaged, with a sort of fabric tab at the top of its box that doubles as a way to hang it up (presumably, that’s for retailers rather than the end user). Inside the nicely designed box, you’ll find the controller itself, along with a charging cable, which is a decent length, and a drawstring pouch to keep your controller in, which is a neat touch.

The charging stand isn’t in the box; not that this will be an issue if you’re getting hold of a Neo S that isn’t bundled with a stand, but this was simply included in a little, transparent Ziploc style bag inside the postal packaging; it didn’t feel as if this was particularly secure, but mine did arrive undamaged.

So the packaging itself, charging dock aside, is an immediate win; it really does feel as if you’re unboxing a proper, premium product.

The Neo S is essentially a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller that also works on a PC, along with Android and iOS devices. The button layout mirrors the one you’ll find on the Switch, so if you’re frustrated by Nintendo’s insistence on having the A and B buttons, as well as the X and Y buttons, in alternate positions to the Xbox controller’s layout, you’ll initially struggle with the Neo S too (I say initially, as you can customise the settings of the Neo S to a really impressive degree; read on for more details!).

Still, that aside, the controller is a nice shape and size, feeling light, yet very solidly made. It definitely feels like it’s a controller that’s built to last. There’s all kinds of fancy hardware here, including hall effect thumbsticks (nope, I didn’t know what these were either, but they’re apparently good for ensuring that sticks don’t drift after prolonged use), which are swappable too, so you can buy more, in different colours if you wish, to customise your controller.

There’s programmable back buttons, and if you download the CRKD app and pair your controller with it, you can also use its CTRL feature to customise just about every aspect of your controller that you want.

This includes the strength of its rumble feedback, just as one example of a very impressive amount of options.

Actually pairing the controller with different devices is easy and proved to be a simple, straightforward and reliable process for me; the controller itself plays well and, again, really does feel built to last. It’s a great alternative to other Pro Controllers for the Switch, for example, and is the best I’ve used so far. It’s also great for use when streaming on a tablet or phone; I’ve used the Neo S when playing all kinds of games via Amazon Luna on an Android tablet, and it’s a superb controller for that purpose alone.

I’ve also discovered that the Neo S can function just fine as a wired controller, with a USB cable attached; it’s actually the perfect controller to use on the Evercade VS, and it’ll likely be the only controller I use for that console from now on.

So, about the collectible aspect; this is the part that really surprised me, for just how ridiculously exciting it is in practice. When you get a new CRKD product, be it a Neo S, a Nitro Deck or one of their cute keychain controllers, the CRKD Atom, you can use its unique RFID chip to tap it into your collection, via the CRKD app.

This then triggers a reveal of what number your controller is (you can see from the screenshot that my Hellboy Neo S is number 626 of 1020 produced), notes its edition name and assigns it a rarity level based on this; it can be Silver, Diamond or CRKD (which, excitingly, my Hellboy Neo S is!).

This also binds the controller to you and your account specifically; should you want to trade or sell your controller, you can unbind it so the next owner can do the same. You add CRKD products to an ongoing collection this way, and it really does add an extra dimension to the range; having had that dopamine rush of seeing my Hellboy Neo S get its production number and CRKD rank unlock, I’m suddenly eyeing up the rest of the range and wondering what I should get hold of next.

This has never happened to me before; in decades of video gaming, I’ve not once considered purchasing a controller except when I’ve absolutely had to, and yet here I am perusing the range of controllers that CRKD have to offer, with several rather lovely limited edition ones catching my eye, to add them and display them as objets d’art and conversation pieces, not just controllers.

It’s a genius move from CRKD, and it’s an incredibly compelling aspect that I really did not expect to hold any appeal.

Verdict

The CRKD Neo S is a solidly built controller that can be used on a massive variety of different devices, and its customisability is truly impressive. Brilliantly packaged, it’s clearly a product made by gamers, for gamers. The collectible aspect is phenomenal too, especially if you have friends who you can compare collections with; it’s a truly innovative and very well implemented feature that really takes the Neo S, as well as other CRKD products, to the next level.

You can buy the standard and several POPeART limited edition Neo S controllers from Amazon, or you can buy Neo S controllers (including the Hellboy Edition) directly from CRKD.