HAL Laboratory

HAL Laboratory, Inc.[lower-alpha 2], formerly shortened as HALKEN (derived from its native name), is a Japanese video game developer founded on February 21, 1980. While independent, it has been closely tied with Nintendo throughout its history. The company is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and it also has a building at Kai, Yamanashi.[4] The company got its name because "each letter put them one step ahead of IBM".[5] The company is most famous for their work on the Kirby and Mother series, as well as the first two Super Smash Bros. games.

HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Native name
株式会社ハル研究所
Kabushiki gaisha Haru Kenkyūjo
Kabushiki gaisha
IndustryVideo games
Genre
Founded21 February 1980 (1980-02-21) in Kanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
FounderMitsuhiro Ikeda
Headquarters1-22 Kanda Sudachō,
Chiyoda, Tokyo
,
Japan
Number of locations
2 studios[lower-alpha 1] (2019)
Key people
  • Chairman of the Board
  • Masayoshi Tanimura
  • President
  • Shigefumi Kawase
  • Director of Laboratory
  • Satoshi Mitsuhara
  • Former Presidents
  • Mitsuhiro Ikeda
  • Tsuyoshi Ikeda
  • Satoru Iwata
  • HAL America President
  • Yash Terakura
Products
Number of employees
169 (2019)
SubsidiariesWarpstar, Inc. (50%)
Websitewww.hallab.co.jp
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3]

The logo, Inutamago (Japanese: 犬たまご "Dog Eggs") depicts a dog incubating eggs, which has been in use since 1998.

History

HAL Laboratory started off making games for the MSX system and the Commodore VIC-20.[6] After financial strain brought on from the development of Metal Slader Glory (1991) for the Famicom,[7] Nintendo offered to rescue HAL from bankruptcy on the condition that HAL employee Satoru Iwata was appointed as its president, which he became between 1993 and 2000.[8] Iwata later became president of Nintendo.

The logo 'Inutamago' was commissioned in 1998 by then HAL Laboratory president, Satoru Iwata. This was handled by Shigesato Itoi who went through many different ideas. He went with the theme of 'an unexpected bond...one that brings the birth of something new' which would lead to the idea of a dog incubating eggs in a nest. The actual design was created by Mr. Akiyama of HAL. The design was indoctrinated by HAL Laboratory in 1998 although the reception at first was lukewarm.[9]

In many of its games during the early to mid-1990s it used the name HALKEN, derived from their Japanese name. Some of its early titles were also released as HAL America Inc. (HAI), a North American subsidiary of the company led by Yash Terakura and based in Beaverton, Oregon, USA.[10]

In August 2001, Hal Laboratory and Nintendo established Warpstar, Inc. in a joint venture (where each part owns 50% of the company) with the objective to manage the Kirby IP along with its copyright, which the decision for the creation of the company was mainly for Kirby: Right Back at Ya! anime series. After the end of the anime, the company still exists and now works with license and supervision of the character in games, merchandise and other media.[4][11]

For years, the company's development center at Tokyo was located within the eighth floor of the Nintendo Tokyo Prefecture Building which itself is located Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, but in August 2003, the company announced that a restructuration was happening and that the development center at the building would be relocated to HAL's main office building in Kanda Suda-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. While this change happened on the Tokyo based company, the Yamanashi part of Hal was unaffected by the changes of the company.[12]

In 2017, Hal Laboratory announced that they would develop and self-publish games for mobile devices with the brand Hal Egg and focusing on completely new characters and franchises, with different types of design than what the developers of the company usually do. The first title launched by them was Part Time UFO.[13]

List of games developed

Nintendo systems

Home console
Family Computer Disk System
Nintendo Entertainment System
Super NES
Nintendo 64
GameCube
Wii
  • Minna no Joushiki Ryoku TV (TV Friend Guide Channel)
  • Kirby's Epic Yarn (co-developed with Good-Feel) (Oct. 14 2010 JP, Oct. 17 2010 NA, February 24, 2011 AU, Feb. 25 2011 EU)
  • Kirby's Return to Dream Land[14]
  • Kirby's Dream Collection
Wii U
Nintendo Switch

Handheld
Game Boy
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Advance
  • Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land – (2002) JP, NA (2003) EU
  • Kirby & The Amazing Mirror (co-developed with Flagship) – (2004) JP, NA, EU
  • Mother 3 (co-developed with Brownie Brown) – (2006) JP
  • Battland – Cancelled
  • Luna Blaze – Cancelled
Nintendo DS
Nintendo 3DS

Other systems

Commodore VIC-20

Commodore MAX Machine[15]/Commodore 64
  • Pool
  • Billiards
  • Bowling
  • Jupiter Lander
  • Le Mans
  • Mole Attack
  • Money Wars
  • Pinball Spectacular
  • Road Race
  • Slalom

Coleco Vision
  • Mr. Chin

MSX
  • Balance
  • Butamaru Pants
  • Cue Star
  • Dragon Attack
  • Dunk Shot
  • Eggerland Mystery
  • Eggerland 2
  • Fruit Search
  • Gall Force
  • Heavy Boxing
  • Hole in One
  • Hole in One Professional
  • Inside the Karamaru
  • Inspecteur Z
  • Mobile Planet Stillus/The Roving Planet Stillus
  • Mr. Chin
  • Pachipro Densetsu
  • Picture Puzzle
  • Rollerball
  • Space Maze Attack
  • Space Trouble
  • Step Up
  • Super Billiards
  • Super Snake
  • Swimming Tango
  • Tetsuman
  • The Roving Planet Styllus

MSX2
  • Hole in One Special
  • Zukkoke Yajikita Onmitsudoutyuu
  • Mr. Ninja – Ashura's Chapter

Windows

Mobile
  • Part Time UFO
  • Housuu de Shoubu! Kame Sanpo

Computer Animation

Notes
  1. Tokyo R&D Center and Yamanashi R&D Center
  2. Japanese: 株式会社ハル研究所 Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Haru Kenkyūjo

References
  1. https://www.hallab.co.jp/eng/company/profile/
  2. https://www.hallab.co.jp/eng/company/history/
  3. https://www.hallab.co.jp/eng/company/symbol/
  4. "Corporate Info". HAL Laboratories. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  5. Madden, Orla (30 November 2012). "Iwata Explains Where The Name HAL Laboratory Came From". nintendolife.com. Nintendo Life. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  6. "What was Japan for Commodore?". commodore.ca. 16 February 2004. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  7. Crimmins, Brian (21 November 2017). "Why Does HAL Laboratory Only Make Nintendo Games?". Waypoint. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  8. "Satoru Iwata – 1999 Developer Interview". Used Games (in Japanese). 1999. (Translation Archived 12 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine)
  9. "Satoru Iwata Wasn't Hot on the Earthbound Creator's Logo for HAL Labs". USGamer.net. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  10. "Yash Terakura joins Throwback Entertainment as Chief Technology Officer". GamesIndustry.biz. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  11. "Iwata Asks: Kirby's Epic Yarn". Nintendo of Europe GmbH. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  12. Bayer, Glen (6 October 2005). "HAL Laboratory: Company Profile". nsidr. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  13. Romano, Sal (22 August 2017). "HAL Laboratory launches smartphone game brand HAL Egg, first title due out this fall in Japan". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  14. Gantayat, Anoop (29 January 2011). "Nintendo Unveils New Wii Titles". andriasang.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  15. "The Ultimax Collection". Commodore 64 Preservation Project. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
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