By Peyton K.
Have you ever wondered what it might sound like if Mario ditched his efforts to save Princess Peach and instead picked up a 7-string guitar? Or if br00tal ‘core bands seldom straying from 0-0-0-0 breakdowns became stuck in a DS game?
Look no further than Nintendocore.
What is Nintendocore?
Nintendocore (also known as bitcore) is a subgenre of music that blends chiptune and video game synths with a heavier metalcore and hardcore punk influence. It combines the usual breakdowns and song structure of metalcore with lighter electronic aspects seldom combined with the genre. The subgenre rose to popularity in the 2000s and was heavily influenced by the Myspace metalcore scene at the time. As the subgenre slightly expanded, it broke past being primarily influenced by metalcore to now including a variety of other influences as well. There have been attempts to further subcategorize the subgenre into mini categories such as “midicore” and “8-bit screamo” (but it’s my opinion that these attempts are somewhat fruitless).
Bands that are widely regarded as having shaped the sound of early Nintendocore include Horse The Band (widely regarded as founding the subgenre), the advantage, Sky Eats Airplane, I Shot the Duck Hunt Dog, Iamerror, and Minibosses. If Horse The Band created Nxcore, then Iamerror solidified it, pioneering the sound further and leaning more heavily into videogames (luridly and conceptually) and also heavily relying on 8-bit synths and programming music.
“This subgenre literally sounds like a bunch of scene kids got lost inside a Mario game.” – Loudwire, 2023
There’s actually a bit of funny lore behind Iamerror in the Nintendocore scene as well. They released an infamous song titled “Rainbow Road” that was so disliked in the Nintendocore scene that almost every band covered it as a joke. People still joke today that covering the song is a rite of passage to become a nintendocore band/artist.
But why is it called Nintendocore? Founding Nintendocore band “Horse the Band’s” frontman Nathan Winneke first coined (no pun intended) the term as a joke, but it quickly caught on to describe the subgenre. The band has been pioneering the subgenre since the beginning, with the keyboardist even using an original Game Boy sequencing cartridge to craft their 8-bit sound. Since the name caught on and as they’ve released more music, members of Horse The Band have tried to distance themselves from the name, not due to a general dislike of the term, but more as not wanting to be pigeonholed.
“I reject it [Nintendocore] because it cheapens our music.” – Horse The Band bassist Dashiel Arkenstone, The Kotaku Times 2018
So if Nintendocore is as strange and unpopular as it is made out to be, why explore the genre? Why not let it rot away on a distant shelf in internet history (similar to old DMG-01 Game Boys on your shelf)? The rejection of the subgenre is nothing new. From the extensive hate of Rainbow Road to it being labeled the “meme-rap of metalcore”, Nintendocore has had its fair share of hate. Although a now-deleted Reddit user deemed Nintendocore to be “doomed to permanent obscurity” 11 years ago, the subgenre still continues to exist and thrive today.
Unlike the battery contacts and fuses in your busted Game Boy, Nintendocore has failed to die out.
I’m a big fan of how the past can inform our future. But in order to know the past, you must have ample access to information about it. This is the crutch of Nintendocore. Information is limited, and when there is unique information and stories, it is as much of an adventure to find as rescuing Peach from Bowser. Information about nintendocore online is sparse and spread far across corners of the internet. It’s in archives of blogs from 2008 that don’t exist anymore, links that lead to 404 pages, and defunct blogs with no sources to back up their claims. This article’s goal is to centralize much of the older information about Nintendocore, as well as tracking the revival of it today.
With all respect to the newer bands, the bands that helped pioneer and craft this genre must first be acknowledged.
Early Nintendocore Recs
Bunnies – Horse The Band
Patterns – Sky Eats Airplane
Here We Go – Intro – 100DEADRABBITS!!!
Fail Hill Zone, Act 1 – Monomate (Iamerror offshoot)
Flower Girls Who Don’t Put Out Get Stabbed – I Shot the Duck Hunt Dog
Civil Eyes – GO! With Fourteen O
Stripes – Dinotrax
Modern Nintendocore
Although it’s come in waves, Nintendocore has always existed (at least since its conception). There was never a time when there were zero Nintendocore bands, although there were times when popularity hit a trough. However, it’s my opinion that we are currently approaching the peak of one of the literal and metaphorical “waves” of Nintendocore. As someone who has been part of the alternative music scene since 2023 in California, I will also be speaking slightly from personal experience, but also trying to keep it objective.
Late Summer/Fall of 2024 was a definitive time in history. Jerome’s “Eat the Gun” cover is growing increasingly popular with the youth, stretched septums are all the rage, and many are trading their “skramz” shirts for deathcore shirts with brootal messages on the back. Don’t get me wrong, this is no hate toward deathcore kids–I was there. I was at the shows, I listened (*listen) to the music, I have the t-shirts too. This is all just to set the stage for the Nintendocore revival scene.
However, with the popularization of a new music subgenre, many wish for more. It’s something we’ve seen time and time again. For example, when I discussed the history of sasscore, I noted how the increasing popularity of youth crew hardcore and, in turn, toxic values led to a counter increase in popularity for sasscore. It’s my and others’ opinion that a similar occurrence is happening now, almost 30 years later. The increase in popularity of deathcore and other “harder” subgenres leaves a niche to be filled–a quirkier, lighter, more fun niche. This is where Nintendocore comes in.
Obviously, the Nintendocore revival scene is a worldwide occurrence, but much of our story takes place here, in California. In October of 2024, No Words for Records and Fontucky Productions put on a legendary show in Pomona called “Brutal Extravangaza”. The show lasted around 7-8 hours and featured a wide array of multi-talented bands. Side bangs, somehow both oversized jorts and tight jeans, and blood dominated the setting. Although the fest sported some hefty band names such as VICTIMBLAMED, Rev3rent, and Desoectomy, it was a smaller band that performed earlier in the day that caught the interest of many. It was also this band’s first-ever show, no vets by any standard. This band was AnimaIsDying.
Even though they made a lasting impression at the show, it was local videographer A Harsh Tale’s video of them that made their impact spread. Sitting at over 11k views as of March 2026, the video spread far from the alley in Pomona. Reactions ranged from those excited about the prospects of a nintendocore revival to those confused at the band’s attempt to resurrect the subgenre.
The hype continued to grow with the popularization of their 2024 demo, which was only released a few months before the fateful show. In the months after this spark in interest, bands continued to ride this wave that Anima had started. I Kidnapped the Princess released their first single in November 2024, Hunting Unicornz released their demo in December, and fear the pink mist released their 2025 demo in January.
Although AnimaIsDying is now defunct, many other talented Nintendocore bands have continued to spur the revival and keep the momentum going. One of these bands is none other than I Kidnapped The Princess, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing.
I Kidnapped The Princess Interview
*Disclaimer: This interview has been slightly edited for clarity and length.
-“What is your band’s name and where is the band from?”
“We are named I Kidnapped The Princess, and we are based in LA–although a lot of us are from San Fernando Valley, and we have a few members that are in Culver City, but we’re mostly based in LA.”
-“Awesome, and then what genre, or multiple genres, would you describe your band’s music as?”
“When we were first starting, we started off as nintendocore with a fusion of slam. So we wanted to be both, we were like nintendocore-slam. We wanted this one side to be this fun, cheery nintendocore, and then it goes into this other side that is just this dark, slam kind of thing. So, I would still consider us slamming nintendocore. As of recently, we’ve changed up our sound a little bit, but it’s still connected to our roots. So I would say slamming nintendocore.”
-“How have you changed the sound more recently?”
“So for our first album–we haven’t released our new album yet, but you’ll see when it comes out–every song had to have a slam riff or a slam breakdown. That one was more straightforward, in your face kinda thing. This one is a little different. We tried combining the sound that we already have with different genres of music in the scene, like easycore, sasscore, and mathcore.”
-“What nintendocore bands have had the largest impact on your music so far? Any non-nintendocore bands?”
“A band that has had a huge impact on our music or our sound is definitely I Set My Friends on Fire. We take heavy inspiration from them, like a lot, and I think that they have inspired our sound the most. But as for a Nintendocore band that has inspired us a lot, I Shot the Duck Hunt Dog and Error37. When I started this band, I had more of an I shot the Duck Hunt dog inspiration. I wanted to be more violent Nintendocore, but we ended up doing some singing down the line. Which, you know, happened because a lot of people enjoyed Scorpion Spear.
And then I was like, you know what? Everybody in the scene is trying to be as hardcore as they can. Or, everybody in the scene is trying to have the most intense breakdowns. There aren’t a lot of bands out there that are doing singing or electronic singing. At the time we started, I Kidnapped The Princess, Ashes at Last was one of the only bands that were doing Crab Claw revival. There was Pacific Skyline, too, but they were pretty niche at the time. So there really weren’t many bands doing it. I just figured there needed to be more bands singing and stuff like that.”
-“Yeah, I know, you mean. Especially like that place and time, everyone was trying to be as brutal as possible.”
“Yeah. Everybody was trying to be all like “deathcore”, everybody was trying to have the slowest 808 drops & breakdowns of all time. Don’t get me wrong, we love those, but you know…”
-“Variety is fun too.”
“Yeah.”
-“And then, the information, at least that I’ve seen, about Nintendocore online is pretty limited in the overall definition and history, you kind of have to dig a little. How did you find out about Nintendocore in the first place?”
“It was my best friend, aka second vocalist, Toxic. He was the one who put me onto it. I guess I’ve been listening to it for a while, but didn’t exactly notice. When we were in the process of discussing starting a band, we both talked about ideas that we wanted to do. I told him I wanted to go more in a scene direction, like I wanted to have some synths and electronic stuff. Then, he gave me the idea of Nintendocore, and he gave me all these bands to listen to, and then I just fell in love with it, like immediately. I fell in love with the idea, and I fell in love with everyone that was doing it.”
-“Over the last few years, I’d say specifically in the last year or so, it’s my opinion that we’ve seen a bit of an increase in the amount of nintendocore bands, (although overall still pretty small in numbers). Do you have any idea or theories of what has led to this increase?”
“Yeah, it started off with Animaisdying. When they came out, it was new, and it was stuff that nobody had ever really heard before. Fun fact, we were planning to be the first nintendocore revival band in the scene, but Animaisdying beat us to it, which is completely fair. Everybody heard it, and they liked it because it was very different from everything else that was coming out. So when they got really popular, everybody wanted to make a Nintendocore project or a Nintendocore band, because they figured out that it was really fun to make–and Nintendocore is pretty fun to make! It is a pretty easy genre as well, because realistically, you only need a synth and drums–then you can call yourself nintendocore. You don’t necessarily need a guitar or vocals. A lot of people started making their own projects because they figured out it was really fun to make, and it was getting popular and blowing up.
I also think part of what kind of kept Nintendocore alive, or what has inspired people and still inspires people to make nintendocore bands to this day, is probably us and the impact that we’ve had on the nintendocore scene. I’ve gotten a lot of DMs from new Nintendocore bands that come out. They’ve told us that we inspired them a lot to create the band, and sometimes you can even see it too. There was this one band–let me shout them out–SKULLKIDSTOLEMYMASK. He had our merch on one of his album covers.”
-“Oh, wow.”
“I definitely think that animaisdying started the Nintendocore revival, and we just kind of continued it, and we just kind of flowed off of it.”
-“Yeah, that makes sense. That sounds awesome to have so many people recognize your impacts on the Nintendocore scene. To kind of what we’ve talked about earlier, do you think the rise of, I would say, this brutal archetype and scene gaining popularity also made people seek out something different or something more fun?”
“Yeah, most definitely. There was a part of the scene that didn’t like it, and they just wanted to stick to the hardcore and the deathcore, the hard moshing and stuff. There was that part that didn’t like it, but most of the revival scene was coming from people who wanted to be scene kids or emo kids, so they were kind of craving that. And when the revival scene started popping off, Ashes at Last was popping off a lot, so I feel like there was a part that wanted more fun genres like that.”
-“Next up, if you can open for any older Nintendocore band, who would you open for?”
“Definitely 100DEADRABBITS!!!, without any question. 100DEADRABBITS!!!. There’s also this other band that played live, they’re called F*cking Werewolf Asso. So, there’s that and then Error37. They’re out of the country, but it would be very cool playing with them back in the day. Those would be some bands that I would love to open up for or play with.”
-“That’d be a crazy show lineup. And then next up, this is more about music technicalities. Would you describe your music as a revival of what was, like trying to imitate original Nintendocore almost to a T or like something new, but more taking inspiration from the past?”
“Honestly, that’s kind of an interesting question, because the way that we look at it, we just wanted to bring back the stuff that people were kind of scared to do. We just wanted to bring back combining genres. We just wanted to bring back not being scared to try something new, you know? You can have a very intense 808 breakdown and then have a very cool melodic singing part right after it, our whole point was to bring back experimenting and trying stuff that people nowadays don’t really try.”
“…the way that we look at it, we just wanted to bring back the stuff that people were kind of scared to do. We just wanted to bring back combining genres. We just wanted to bring back not being scared to try something new, you know?”
“So in a way, I would say certain aspects of it are kind of a revival. And I would say for the most part, we are a revival band–that’s what we’re going for. But we’re definitely incorporating new stuff into it., and for the most part we kind of have our own sound separated from a bunch of other bands.”
-“Yeah, I think that’s what’s special about IKTP, too, is that it doesn’t just fade into this larger revival movement–you can stick out as your own band as well. How did you come up with the name I Kidnapped the Princess?”
“So originally, we were going to have another name. It was going to be Before Dinosaurs Started Munching, and that was going to be short for BDSM. We would have announced on stage, we would be like “hey, our name is B.D.S.M., Before Dinosaurs Started Munching” or something like that. We found that really funny, but we just didn’t end up using it because I felt like we could have done better.
I really liked how a lot of band names back then were this sentence of “I did something bad”, like I Shot The Duck Hunt Dog, I Shot the Prom Queen. I Set My Friends on Fire. There were a bunch of bands that had that “I did this” kind of thing. So that’s something I wanted to do, and I feel like nobody has really done that. So, we made I Kidnapped the Princess.
At first, I wasn’t really too strong on using that name because I wanted something that was kind of catchy, but that name just stuck around. Me and Toxic would make jokes about that name, and it kind of just stuck with us. And eventually, when the Nintendocore wave was happening, we saw someone name their band “Kill the Princess”. And that’s when I got worried. I was like, oh crap, someone might steal our name. Okay, we have to use it before someone takes it because there are so many bands coming out right now–anybody else could come up with it. So, we quickly just used that name, and everyone ended up loving it. Looking back, I think it was a good decision.
You know, sometimes, sometimes I’m like, it could’ve been cooler if I used ‘I Killed the Princess’ or something, but, I think that I Kidnapped the Princess is pretty good for what it is.”
-“Yeah. It’s catchy. You can save the BDSM for a side project.”
“Possibly. If I were to do a side project, I would name it Eat the Pickle or something.”
Next up, what’s your favorite song you’ve written for I Kidnapped the Princess? And why is it your favorite?
“Definitely ‘Gunfight with Slenderman’. If we’re talking songs released so far, “Gunfight with Slenderman” is our favorite. It’s my favorite because I feel like it’s the most relatable, not just to me but to everybody. I feel like it’s something that everybody has been through at one point in their life, and I’m also just kind of really proud of the lyricism that I did on that song. So I think that’s my favorite.
And then another thing too–the way that the song is structured, everybody in the band just loves playing that song. They love playing it live, and they love playing it at practice. When we’re having a bad practice, they’re like “Okay, you know what? We got to end on gunfight with Slenderman, that will make this practice better. So everybody just absolutely adores that song. It was also the first song where we used Mario 64 synths. So I think that’s what makes it beautiful as well. It’s just the one song that we all agree is just absolutely perfect and doesn’t have any flaws.”
-“So would you say it’s like your amp up song to get you hype?”
“Sort of, yeah. Every time we play that song, people start moshing. That song has gotten a lot of plays on TikTok as well–there was that. And then ‘Sonic Says No to Drugs’. Everybody loves those two. I do have another song that’s going to be on the new album, which is going to be the main track. It’s called–okay, this title is pretty crazy–”I Like My Steak How I Like My Sex, Raw on the Inside”. I like that song a lot just because, number one, it’s pretty funny–we put a Chief Keef sample in there. We’ve actually played it live a few times, and everybody seemed to really like it. Number two, it’s way different from all the other stuff I wrote. I actually wrote it from a girl’s perspective. A lot of the other songs I write, I write it in the dude’s perspective because it’s easy for me–I’m a dude. So this song, I wrote it from a girl’s perspective of her just going through life and going to work and having to deal with like, some bullsh*t employees and just like, being depressed. That was mainly what that song is going to be about. And I like that song a lot because I feel like I challenged myself to write a song in a different perspective, and I did pretty well. And that song is also just really fun to play.”
-“Do you guys have a time that you think you’ll be releasing your new music?”
“Around March or April? Either this month or next month, because it’s almost done. It’s like 80% done, I would say. The only reason why we’re thinking about delaying is that we’re kind of questioning whether we want to do an album release show. You know, we want to get merch prepared, so that’s probably the only thing, but very soon.”
-“I think I kind of know the answer to this question already, but just want to clarify, what game or games or media inspires you the most in your music and designs?”
“Definitely. Mario. I mean, that’s no question. That’s definitely Mario. Going into this band, we wanted it to be very Mario-themed, but also Pokémon as well. There’s Pokémon because a lot of us like Pokémon. The other band members, when it comes to games, they all like Halo and Doom–they like stuff like that. But this project was very Nintendo-based, which, honestly, we might calm down a little bit on because, to be honest, we’re not really sure how we’ve gotten away with the merch drops. But we somehow managed to get away with that.”
-“Oh, like copyright-wise?”
“Sort of, yeah. I mean, I can see how, you know, every artwork was originally drawn. We didn’t use any actual assets from Nintendo, but still.”
-“Yeah. Because I know they can be kind of harsh with their copyright stuff.”
“Yeah. Very harsh.”
-“Knock on wood.”
“But definitely very Nintendo themed, I’d say this band is.”
-“Do you think you would ever include Halo or that kind of influence too?”
“We did. We were on a split. It was a Call of Duty versus Halo split; we had this song. It’s not very popular, but it’s called ‘The Plumber Told Me If I Do Drugs, I’ll Go to Hell Before I Die’. That song wasn’t actually about Call of Duty, but, you know, it had ‘Team Cod split’ in the title, and it has a Call of Duty album cover. And I mean, you know, ‘Gunfight with Slenderman’ is…’Gunfight with Slenderman’. Slenderman is not very Nintendo-related. And there was Mortal Kombat. We did ‘Scorpion Spear was Her Favorite Rose Toy’. So there was that, because I love Mortal Kombat as well. That song was originally going to be ‘Scorpion Spear is my Favorite Weapon of Mario Kart’. I don’t know why we even changed it into what it is now, but we just found it funnier.”
-“Yeah, I really like that one. I had a show where I would play different types of cores. I had a Nintendocore show, and that was the song I played; I was like, can I say this on air?”
-“What is the best and worst part of the current Nintendocore scene? I know the Nintendocore scene itself is also kind of infused with the current deathcore and metalcore scene, so also that might have some overlap too.”
“The best part about it is definitely the creativity. I’d say the creativity –seeing more people come out with inspiring stuff is awesome. Seeing people sing with autotune more is pretty awesome. And overall, just seeing all the really cool things that people can make and not needing a full band to do it. People just making music to make it. And I also think it’s really cool when the core bands actually play live. I think that’s another thing. It’s like, wow, you know, they made it from using programs on FL Studio to actually playing on a stage. So it’s really nice.
And I think the worst part about the scene is the fact that–this isn’t that much of a bad thing–Nintendocore got so popular that it’s now known as the sh*tty SoCal genre. It’s now like one of those sh*tty Socal genres that people make fun. You know, Nintendocore has existed for many years–it’s existed since the Myspace days, and it was alongside the deathcore bands, so it sucks that people just think that it was just a SoCal revival genre, but it is what it is.”
-“Yeah, it kind of sucks that got thrown in with the, like, socaldeathcorerevival.”
“Yeah, exactly. Like it’s its own thing. But, you know.”
-“I was wondering about, in your songwriting process–you talked a little bit about FL studio–do you start with the 8 bit sounds and then build from there? Or do you start with more of the ‘core elements and then add the Nintendo part later?”
“To be honest, it’s kind of whatever I feel like starting with. Sometimes I do start with the 8 bits: those can be kind of tricky because you got to do something quite different each time. In 8 bits, it’s actually not hard, but sometimes a little tedious. Normally, I start with guitar and drums, then I start with the Nintendo after. But sometimes it will be vice versa: sometimes I’ll make a Nintendo melody, and then I’ll have the guitars and drums kind of go into it. So it really just depends. But most of the time, I’ll start with guitar and drums first.”
-“And then, finally, are there any current bands embodying that Nintendocore sound that you think need more recognition, or you just want to shout out?”
“I think EatTheSnow is very cool. EatTheSnow is pretty cool. Oh, I gotta–I gotta go through for this.
UsbTypeC is really good. Hunting Unicorns as well. They’ve gained some recognition, they’ve gained some popularity. But I think they’re really cool. The Taxidermy of Men, they’re kind of slept on, and I think that they should get more recognition. I think The Taxidermy of Men is really cool. I think those are the ones I think deserve recognition. I would say Desolation of Kirby, but they kind of ended, like they’re not doing shows anymore.”
-“Yeah. It’s tough. I feel like a lot of Nintendocore bands are kind of short-lived nowadays, even if they make, like, awesome music.”
“Yeah. Most definitely. It’s kind of a hard genre to keep alive for a long time.”
-“In your opinion, why do you think that? Do you think it’s like the repetitiveness of it or…?”
“Honestly, having a Nintendocore band is not for the weak. Because if you actually like making it and you have to play shows, you have to buy a bunch of equipment, and I’ll tell you, the setup for a Nintendocore band is not as cheap as a setup for a deathcore band, because you don’t have to worry about synths and staying on time with the tracks and stuff. I believe Nintendocore bands are kind of short-lived because a lot of the time it’s just a fun side project for people and people don’t take it as serious. So when it comes down to it, most of the time, a lot of people are just like, ‘you know what, I want to make something actually serious now’. That’s why a lot of Nintendocore bands stopped doing stuff or just broke up because they were like, ‘this was just my little fun passion, but now I’m ready to actually make something more’. And, you know, that’s completely fine and respectable. That could be one of the reasons why Nintendocore bands break apart a lot of the time.
I feel like another reason, again, with Nintendocore, it’s sometimes kind of hard to keep up with programming on the synths and making sure they work live and stuff, having a good PA system.”
-“I mean, I guess that makes sense.”
“There’s a lot that goes into it, kind of.”
-“Yeah, and I’m sure it’s different for every band that ends for goes on hiatus, too. There’s probably not a singular answer. But that’s all the questions I had for you. Thank you for joining me here!”
You can find IKTP here, and listen to them here, here, and here.
The Making of Nintendocore
Similar to information about the history of the genre, tutorials and info about how to make Nintendocore music are limited online. However, through extensive research and talking to bands, some tips and tricks are here.
The main thing that you will need to learn for making Nintendocore is synth software. These can range from free software & plugins such as Vital, Dexed, and U-He Diva, to paid software such as Serum and Pigments. You can also use DAWs like FL Studio, which have built-in synthesizers. The most popular VSTs back in the day (when nintendocore was pioneered) were Toad, Peach, and Triforce. FL Slayer was also pretty popular. Additionally, many bands heavily inspired by chiptune music use the LSDJ software.
When recording or programming guitars, most nintendocore bands have high gain and low mids, but you can always change it up!
If you’re more interested in the making of Nintendocore music, I would highly recommend this video and this video.
Here’s what I made after toying around for about an hour with free software like Vital and Audacity. Please keep in mind I have no audio engineering or music writing experience:
I am in no way a pro. I don’t know the first thing about programming actual Nintendocore music. So I reached out to another big name in the revival scene right now and asked them what their timeline looked like in comparison. Then, I asked them a few questions about their band and the scene. This is EatTheF*ckingSnow’s timeline:
EatTheF*ckingSnow
What is your band’s name, where is the band from, and who makes up the band?
Jaden: We are “Eatthef*ckingsnow”, also for the family friendlies “Eat The Snow.” The band is made up of Josiah (Programmer and Vocals) and Jaden (Guitars).
How would you describe your music? Or, where do you think it could fall genre-wise?
I’d say we’re a mix of Nintendocore and Cybergrind with post-hardcore influence
You guys dropped your first album in early 2025, and have released about 3 singles since then. What Nintendocore bands had the largest impact on the sound of your music so far? Or any bands outside the Nintendocore sphere?
Biggest influences starting out were projects like Weekly Words and Grammar, Monomate, and of course the work of Toby Fox.
Information about Nintendocore online is pretty limited in its definition and history. How did you find out about Nintendocore in the first place?
Josiah: I personally found out about the genre around mid/late 2024; I had a basic idea of what it was about, but really got into it when our friends’ band AnimaIsDying kicked off.
Jaden: I found the genre in early in 2025 when Jack (keys player of The Taxidermy of Men) introduced me to Nintendocore, and brought up the idea to start a Ncore band.
In your opinion, what is the difference between Nintendocore and Cybergrind?
Jaden: To me, cybergrind is generally more grindish than Nintendocore. There’s less synths and more focus on noisy speeds and unfortunate mixing generally.
Josiah Yeah I think Nintendocore is more melodic than Cybergrind typically. Nintendocore also is more unabashedly nerdy, like you can’t have a Nxcore band without a game/pop culture reference. Cybergrind is just more all-encompassing in my eyes.
Over the past few years, it’s my opinion that we’ve seen a steady increase in the amount of Nintendocore bands (although still pretty small in numbers). What do you think has lead to this increase?
Josiah: Not only did the revival start by the traction Anima got, but also the perceived ease of starting. All you need is a DAW and a little production experience.
Would you describe your music as a revival of what once was? Or something new, but taking inspiration from the past?
Jaden: I find our music as something new rather than revival simply due to the fact that I don’t listen to myspace music for guitar influence (except for HORSE the Band). But everyone perceives others’ music differently.
How did you come up with the name EatTheF*ckingSnow?
Josiah: It’s from track 9 of Glocca Morra’s album Just Married. I can’t say for certain but I most likely just saw it in my playlist and thought it’d be good. Didn’t even have anything to do with Undertale at first, the whole theme came along a bit later.
Since the creation of your band, the main live performances you’ve done are shows on the gaming platform Roblox (to my knowledge). This is pretty interesting to me, as it’s creating a way to connect with artists and bands that we haven’t seen before. What has this been like for you guys as a band? What do you like about it, what do you not, etc?
Josiah: Definitely the biggest upside of it is getting out to new ears and playing with fellow bands in the scene that we might never get to otherwise. It was a really cool concept. My only gripe these days is with Roblox itself, but I think it’s cool to see it continue.
What’s your favorite song you’ve written and why?
Josiah: My personal favorite song we’ve written is between “i’ve devised a virus” and “that’s a wonderful idea”, leaning more towards the latter though because it’s a more accurate look at the future of etfs in terms of sound. However, ‘i’ve devised’ is the most bold of our discog and I continue to stand with what it says.
Jaden: My favourite songs that we’ve written are “I have a wonderful idea!” And “Butt smells”(for short.) ‘But smells’ was the first EatTheSnow song I was very very proud of. Don’t get me wrong, I was proud of the other songs, but it was on a whole other level of technicality with writing and playing. It was very fun. And ‘wonderful idea’ feels like a game that keeps getting better to me because the transitions to different movements are very satisfying, as well as the amazing sounds Josiah used for it.
What media inspires you the most in your music and designs?
Jaden: Yu-Gi-Oh! and video games.
Josiah: Probably the NFL, Duck Dynasty, and Pawn Stars, pretty much our whole brand.
What is it like having a band with members living across the country? What’s the writing and recording process like?
Jaden: It’s definitely less engaging when it comes to songwriting.
Josiah: It definitely slows down the process, and it’s kind of forced us to stick to online shows and things. It isn’t any harder I’d say though, we pretty much just send a file whenever just like, “hey i had this idea,” the other responds, “this is cool gimme a couple days”, fast-forward a couple weeks and you got a song.
Finally, are there any current bands embodying that nintendocore sound that you think need more recognition?
Josiah: Knifefightkyoto, USBTypeC, Jade Harley: Super Sugoi Dog Girl, Major League Gutting, and The Taxidermy of Men.
Jaden: Quickskxpxx, Chidori, Got Item!, and Dance Dance Execution.
You can find ETS here, and listen to their music here, here, and here.
More About Nintendocore
Okay, now I had information about the songwriting and musical aspect of nintendocore from two of the biggest bands in the current scene. However, there was still one aspect of nintendocore that fascinated me, an aspect that flies under the radar most of the time–design.
Design is such a large part of alternative subgenres, but it never gets the hype it deserves. Maybe I’m a bit biased as a graphic designer myself, but small discrepancies in designs can note to bands’ genres, active years, location, and more. For example, you can often tell a band’s genre solely from its logo. Let’s have an impromptu pop quiz.
Answer (Highlight with cursor to reveal): [A:C, B:D, C:B, D:A]
Even if you got them all wrong, you can see how designs can note to interesting aspects of the bands! Now, of course, each of these logos isn’t representative of the entire genre, but it’s still interesting to point out.
In a similar fashion, the design element of nintendocore has continued to fascinate me throughout this deep dive. It’s part of what makes the genre so special. It continues to build on the contrast that the subgenre is chock-full of. Similar to the contrast between 8bit tunes and metalcore, nintendocore designs often feature elements of both colorful, nostalgic designs and harsher, gorier elements.
I was still curious about some aspects of the design element, so I decided to get in contact with someone supplying the current nintendocore scene with stellar graphics and designs. This person is Fluffy Pillarr.
Fluffy Pillarr
What inspired you to get involved with modern-day Nintendocore graphics?
I’ve always been a fan of Nintendo, when it comes to Pokémon, Yoshi, Kirby and all the little character designs and colors they use, I literally am IN LOVE!!!! But when it comes to nintendocore, my boyfriend (mesa.productions) introduced me to nintendocore and the whole scene world two years ago. That’s basically when I started my whole band merch journey, and it had a big influence on my art style.
What’s your artistic process for a standard design (let’s say a t-shirt design)?
Hmmm… my artistic process for a t-shirt design depends on if it’s for personal use or for a commission. Personal use would probably go something like this: I think of an idea in my head (sometimes getting inspo from pinterest), sketching it out on my iPad, altering the sketch to my liking, lineart and then coloring! Commission work would probably just be the same steps, but including idea gathering instead just to make sure they get what they want.
What role do you think visual graphics play in shaping how people understand Nintendocore as a genre?
When I think of the word “Nintendocore” I think of bright colored, neon, cartoony, gory, scary, goofy looking nintendo characters. I personally think that the way that nintendocore is visually portrayed is super important because it basically IS nintendocore! like… if you think of nintendocore as a plain black and white logo on a tshirt what are you even doing LOL.
How is it balancing the popularity of your designs within the Nintendocore scene with trying to expand your art outside of music (adopts, MLP, your shop)?
I personally think it’s a piece of cake! I rarely take commissions, so i dont get overwhelmed and go nuts, but selling stuff is so fun! I love packaging things and writing handwritten notes, and for adopts I only do those when I have free time, it’s not something I frequently do, but I do enjoy them.
Are there any commonalities you see throughout Nintendocore designs and logos? (A.K.A., is there anything that everyone is asking for?).
Something that I see the majority asking for is monster merch BUT…of existing fandoms, like MLP, Mario, Kirby, Sonic, etc. I personally get a little afraid at the idea of making merch of those fandoms just for the reason that I might get in legal trouble, but I do think about how many people have done it, and nothing has happened to them, so I’m like ooh okay maybe I’ll be alright LOL… so maybe maybe… there’s always a possibility.
What era of games/media/ internet inspires your style the most?
Definitely the 2000s era, smosh, nyan cat, asdf movie, newgrounds style, pony.mov, creepypastas, warrior cat animations, and all those stuff are the MAIN inspirations behind my style.
Would you describe your artistic style for these Nintendocore bands as a revival of past art styles? Or something new, but taking inspiration from the past?
(Or something new entirely!).
I don’t think it’s something new entirely, but new in my own way! I take inspiration from past art styles and smash little aspects of them into my own! Along with a lot of cartoon inspiration too, like the thick linework and intricate details! (I love details LOL!).
Nintendo has a history of harshly enforcing property rights to its games and characters. Do you ever worry about legal repercussions? Or since it is all your own original art, do you not worry as much?
There’s never a moment where i’m NOT worrying about that xD From what i’ve heard they don’t attack you if you draw the character “parodied”. I think there’s a parody law where if you draw a popular character (example: Mario) in a parody style (ex: with one eye and three teeth or something), it’s fine, so I’m not worried TOO much.
Do you have any favorite graphics you’ve made for Nintendocore bands?
I don’t really have just ONE favorite, but if anything, my most favorite graphic would have to be the t-shirt design I made for animaisdying. I never got to see them when they were still performing, but I love that they came to me for a design, it was truly an honor! In addition, the ikidnappedtheprincess gir shirt design, + an unreleased one too… coming soon LOL! Another favorite is some that I made for Destroy All! Humans where I drew the characters of Adventure Time as zombies attacking Finn and Jake.
What’s the best part about working with commissions within the music scene?
The best part would have to be being able to draw for smaller bands to get themselves out there. I love seeing my art and designs come to life!! Especially when they get the designs printed on shirts, and people buy them, it makes me incredibly happy to see people wearing my designs on t-shirts! Like no way I’m THAT cool 😀 It’s just so unreal to me, I thank everyone, especially my boyfriend, for putting my name out there.
Finally, if people want to contact you and/or commission you, what is the best way to get in contact?
The best way to get in contact/commission is sending me a message through Instagram @fluffypillarr ! I’m not really 100% active anywhere else 😀
You can find fluffypillarr here and here.
Modern Recommendations
Mini-Game Mania in Peach’s Royal Ballroom – AnimaIsDying
Makin Bacon Pancakes – In Your Eyes
fingerprints are all different, like butt smells – eatthef*ckingsnow
I’ve Got a Really Bad Feeling About This… – Hunting Unicornz
Fear The Mist B*tch – fear the pink mist
This Level Sucks, Brad Taste Can Suck My Nuts – I Kidnapped the Princess
Sora Thinks You’re Stupid! – USBTypeC
ParTy songf – putyournamehere
This Eternal Curse – Blind Equation
Closing Remarks
Although a relatively small and close-knit subgenre, it seems Nintendocore is an unending hole of information, songs, and talented artists. The wave of this “revival” is still in effect, and I’m curious to see where it goes within the next year or so. Thank you to I Kidnapped the Princess, EatTheSnow, and Fluffy Pillarr for lending me their time to teach me about this subgenre and the work that goes into it!