nintendocore

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Nintendocore frequently features the use of electric guitars, drum kits, and typical rock instrumentation alongside synthesizers, chiptune, 8-bit sounds, and electronically produced beats.{{cite web|last=Wright|title=Subgenre(s) of the Week: Nintendocore (feat. Holiday Pop)|url=http://www.reedquest.org/subgenres-of-the-week-nintendocore-feat-holiday-pop/|publisher=The Quest|access-date=2 January 2015|date=2010-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102193220/http://www.reedquest.org/subgenres-of-the-week-nintendocore-feat-holiday-pop/|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=Loftus|first=Johnny|title=HORSE the Band|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/horse-the-band-p596753/biography|work=Allmusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=2011-03-14}} It originated primarily from hardcore punk and heavy metal,{{cite web|last=Sutherland|first=Sam|title=Horse the Band - Pizza EP|url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/horse_band-pizza_ep|publisher=Exclaim!|access-date=10 July 2011|date=December 2006}}{{cite web|last=Turull|first=Alisha|title=New Releases: Lita Ford, the Fall of Troy, Horse the band, Immortal, Inhale Exhale|url=http://www.noisecreep.com/2009/10/06/1new-releases-lita-the-fall-of-troy-horse-the-band-immortal/|work=Noisecreep|publisher=AOL|access-date=30 March 2011|date=6 October 2009}} and subgenres of those styles such as post-hardcore, metalcore,{{cite web|title=Horse The Band, Super 8 Bit Brothers, Endless Hallway, and Oceana|url=http://www.avclub.com/chicago/events/horse-the-band-super-8-bit-brothers-endless-hallwa,178414/|work=The A.V. Club|publisher=The Onion|access-date=January 2, 2015|date=8 November 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120315121824/http://www.avclub.com/chicago/events/horse-the-band-super-8-bit-brothers-endless-hallwa,178414/|archive-date = 15 March 2012}} and screamo.{{cite web|last=Loftus|first=Johnny|title=R. Borlax [Bonus Tracks]|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/r-borlax-bonus-tracks-r661548|work=Allmusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=10 April 2011}} Artists in the genre have also incorporated elements of electro, noise, noise rock,{{cite web|last=Leahey|first=Andrew|title=A Natural Death|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1067818|work=Allmusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=8 May 2011}} and post-rock. Nintendocore groups vary stylistically and come from a wide array of influences. Horse the Band combines metalcore, heavy metal, thrash metal, and post-hardcore with post-rock passages. "The Black Hole" from Horse the Band's third album, The Mechanical Hand, is an example of Nintendocore, featuring screamed vocals, heavy "Nintendo riffs," and "sound effects from numerous games."{{cite web|last=Weber|first=Scott |title=Horse the Band - The Mechanical Hand|url=http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=97383|publisher=AbsolutePunk|access-date=2011-05-07}} Math the Band includes electro and dance-punk styles.{{cite web|last=Trivett|first=Ben|title=Math the Band Play Blistering Set at CMJ -- Exclusive Photos|url=http://www.spinner.com/2010/10/21/math-the-band-cmj-pictures/|work=Spinner.com|publisher=AOL|access-date=30 March 2011|date=21 October 2010|archive-date=1 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101133143/http://www.spinner.com/2010/10/21/math-the-band-cmj-pictures/|url-status=dead}} Minibosses use Kyuss-inspired heavy metal riffing,{{cite web|last=Borges|first=Mario Mesquita|title=Minibosses|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/minibosses-p511940|work=Allmusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=10 April 2011}} and The Advantage is associated with styles such as noise rock and post-rock.{{cite web|last=Trivett|first=Ben|title=Math the Band Play Blistering Set at CMJ -- Exclusive Photos|url=http://www.spinner.com/2010/10/21/math-the-band-cmj-pictures/|work=Spinner.com|publisher=AOL|access-date=30 March 2011|date=21 October 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110101133143/http://www.spinner.com/2010/10/21/math-the-band-cmj-pictures/|archive-date = 1 January 2011}} The Depreciation Guild was an indie band that incorporated 8-bit sounds, video game music, and elements of shoegaze.

Some bands feature singing, such as The Depreciation Guild, whose frontman Kurt Feldman provides "ethereal" and "tender vocals," and The Megas, who write lyrics that mirror video game storylines.{{cite web |author=Bayer, Jonah |date=2009-03-05 |title=Like Video Games? You'll Love Nintendocore |url=http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/like-video-games-305/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511183339/http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Features/like%2Dvideo%2Dgames%2D305/ |archive-date=2009-05-11 |access-date=2011-03-15 |publisher=Gibson Guitar Corporation}} Others, such as Horse the Band and Math the Band, add screamed vocals into the mix.{{cite web|last=Synyard|first=Dave|title=Horse the Band - A Natural Death|url=http://exclaim.ca/Reviews/Metal/horse_band-natural_death|publisher=Exclaim!|access-date=10 July 2011|date=September 2007}} But yet other groups are strictly instrumental, such as Minibosses, and The Advantage.{{cite web|last=Loftus|first=Johnny|title=The Mechanical Hand|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-mechanical-hand-r789059|work=Allmusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=10 April 2011}} While otherwise diverse, all Nintendocore groups "use specific instruments to mimic the sounds of Nintendo games."

Horse the Band was an early pioneer of Nintendocore and the originator of the term, which frontman Nathan Winneke coined as a joke. According to The A.V. Club, the group's "contorted roars, metal-core hysterics, esoteric video game references, and crusty 8-bit-style synth became inextricably linked to the nebulous genre."File:The Advantage Band Japan 2010.jpg

Another Nintendocore pioneer is The Advantage,{{cite web|last=Hughes|first=Josiah|title=Hella guitarist Spencer Seim releases solo album as sBACH|url=http://exclaim.ca/News/hella_guitarist_spencer_seim_releases_solo_album_as|publisher=Exclaim!|access-date=10 July 2011|date=August 2008}} whom The New York Times praises as one of the groups who brought video game music into the mainstream modern music spotlight.{{cite news|last=Weingarten|first=Marc|title=Resurrecting the Riffs, A Nintendo Rock Band|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/29/technology/resurrecting-the-riffs-a-nintendo-rock-band.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|work=The New York Times|access-date=21 March 2011|date=29 April 2004}} The Advantage is an instrumental rock band formed by two students attending Nevada Union High School. Spencer Seim first heard the original two band members play at a 1999 Nevada Union High School talent show, beginning his musical career, and continued to lead the group forward after high school. The group "plays nothing but music from the original Nintendo console games." By creating rock cover versions of video game sound tracks, they have "brought legitimacy to a style of music dubbed Nintendocore."{{cite web |last=Payne |first=Will B. |date=2006-02-14 |title=Nintendo Rock: Nostalgia or Sound of the Future |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/2/14/nintendo-rock-nostalgia-or-sound-of/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604143335/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/2/14/nintendo-rock-nostalgia-or-sound-of/ |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |access-date=2011-03-14 |website=The Harvard Crimson}}

File:The Minibosses.jpg at Penny Arcade Expo 2005 (now PAX).]]

The Phoenix-based rock group, Minibosses, "[is] one of the most well-established bands in the Nintendocore genre, with an impressive roster of covers including Contra, Double Dragon, Excitebike," and covers of other video game themes. Minibosses is known as one of the primary representatives of Nintendo rock,{{Cite episode|title=The Rise of Nintendo Rock |url=http://kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200408/minibosses |credits=Rene Gutel |network=NPR |station=KJZZ 91.5 |location=Tempe, Arizona |airdate=August 26, 2004 |access-date=10 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040903183150/http://kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200408/minibosses |archive-date=September 3, 2004 }} performing at various video game expositions. In addition to covers, the band has also produced original work. The Harvard Crimson refers to Minibosses as "sworn rivals" of The NESkimos, another Nintendocore practitioner.

The 2007 debut album by The Depreciation Guild, In Her Gentle Jaws, has been referred to as Nintendocore by Pitchfork Media. The website wrote that "In Her Gentle Jaws sticks its neck out further than Nintendocore staples like The Advantage or Minibosses", and that the album's instrumental title track "could plausibly come from an NES cartridge."{{cite web|last=Moerder|first=Adam|title=The Depreciation Guild - In Her Gentle Jaws|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11143-in-her-gentle-jaws/|publisher=Pitchfork Media|access-date=2011-05-09}}

In 2016, a group of artists, under the Nintendocore Lives label, released a compilation album, Smash 64, themed after the original Super Smash Bros. game, in an attempt to revitalize the genre.{{Cite news|url=https://www.altpress.com/news/new_8_bit_metalcore_album_revives_nintendocore_with_brutal_n64_themelisten/|title=New 8-bit metalcore album revives nintendocore with brutal N64 theme—listen - Alternative Press|date=2016-07-17|work=Alternative Press|access-date=2018-10-15|language=en-US}}

• List of Nintendocore bands

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{{Wiktionary|Nintendocore}}

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