Definition of "Nintendocore"

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to mix the theme song from the original Mario Bros. games with chugging guitars and the vocal stylings of someone who wasn't hugged enough as a child? You're not alone. In fact, there's an entire genre of music devoted to this sound – it's called nintendocore. Growing out of metalcore – a fusion of heavy metal and punk – nintendocore derives its distinctive sound from the use of synths reminiscent of mid-eighties video games.

2009 November 2, Amy Plachta, “You Never Knew You Loved … Nintendocore a Unique Sound Worth Exploring”, in Interrobang: Fanshawe College’s Student Voice‎, volume 42, number 11, London, Ont.: Fanshawe College Student Union, archived from the original on 2024-03-31

In the ever-changing landscape of music, that's given way to such genres as emo, screamo, nu metal and Nintendocore, one question remains! Does anyone play rock music anymore?

2010 May, Jake Brown, Alice in Chains: In the Studio‎, Nashville, Tenn.: Rock ’N’ Roll Books

At the time of writing, Spotify currently lists over 4,000 online categories and sub-categories of music ranging from Nintendocore – a genre delineated solely by the overlay of bludgeoning, bowel-stewing grunge riffs on old-school videogame soundtracks – to Pornogrind, a maximum security subgenre of Grindcore (a convulsing fusion of rawboned, buzz-sawing death metal and tightly coiled hardcore punk).

2020, Kevin Dutton, Black and White Thinking: The Burden of a Binary Brain in a Complex World‎, London: Bantam Press

In the US, a well-known Brooklyn music venue hosted a Minecraft concert featuring much loved bands […]. The sprawling nightclub was painstakingly recreated and featured performances from the popular emo act American Football, "Nintendocore" videogame musicians Anamanaguchi and electronic artist Baths […].

2020, Larissa Hjorth, Ingrid Richardson, Hugh Davies, William Balmford, “Playing during and post COVID-19 Pandemic”, in Exploring Minecraft: Ethnographies of Play and Creativity (Palgrave Games in Context), Cham, Zug, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, page 171