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 21 February 1980. While independent, it has been closely tied with Nintendo throughout its history, and is often referred to as a second-party developer for the company.[4] HAL Laboratory is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and it also has a building at Kai, Yamanashi.[5] The company got its name because "each letter put them one step ahead of IBM".[6] 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
TypeKabushiki gaisha
IndustryVideo games
Genre
Founded21 February 1980 (1980-02-21) in Kanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
FounderMitsuhiro Ikeda
HeadquartersKanda Square, 2-2-1 Kandanishiki-cho,
Chiyoda, Tokyo
,
Japan
Number of locations
2 studios[lower-alpha 1] (2019)
Key people
  • Chairman of the Board
  • Masayoshi Tanimura
  • President and CEO
  • Shigefumi Kawase
  • Director of the Board
  • Shinya Kumazaki
Products
Number of employees
215 (2023)
SubsidiariesWarpstar, Inc. (50%)
Websitewww.hallab.co.jp
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3]

The logo, dubbed Inutamago[lower-alpha 3], depicts a dog incubating eggs, which has been in use since 1998.

History

HAL Laboratory started off making games for the MSX system and VIC-20.[7] After financial strain brought on from the development of Metal Slader Glory (1991) for the Famicom,[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11]

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 characters in games, merchandise and other media.[5][12]

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.[13]

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.[14] The company released a miniature version of the MZ-80C computer in October 2017[15] and a miniature version of the PC-8001 in October 2019[16]

In 2020, HAL Laboratory updated their employee numbers from 169 to 195 and the company came back to the new Nintendo Tokyo Building with its main office and the Tokyo development studio being in the same building along with Nintendo EPD Tokyo, Nintendo PTD Tokyo, 1-Up Studio and Game Freak like a keiretsu.[17] The studio in Yamanashi was unaffected by that move.

List of games

Nintendo Entertainment System

Family Computer Disk System

Game Boy

Super NES

Nintendo 64

Game Boy Color

GameCube

Game Boy Advance

Nintendo DS

Wii

Nintendo 3DS

Wii U

Nintendo Switch

VIC-20

MAX Machine[18]/Commodore 64

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

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

Windows

Mobile

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
  3. Japanese: 犬たまご, "Dog Eggs"

References
  1. "Company Profile | COMPANY | HAL Laboratory". 2 November 2020.
  2. "Our History | COMPANY | HAL Laboratory". 2 November 2020.
  3. "Inutamago | COMPANY | HAL Laboratory". 2 November 2020.
  4. Fahey, Mike (21 February 2015). "The Studio Behind Smash Bros. And Kirby, HAL Laboratory Turns 35 Today". Kotaku. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  5. "Corporate Info". HAL Laboratories. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  6. Madden, Orla (30 November 2012). "Iwata Explains Where The Name HAL Laboratory Came From". nintendolife.com. Nintendo Life. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  7. "What was Japan for Commodore?". commodore.ca. 16 February 2004. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  8. 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.
  9. "Satoru Iwata – 1999 Developer Interview". Used Games (in Japanese). 1999. (Translation Archived 12 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine)
  10. "Satoru Iwata Wasn't Hot on the Earthbound Creator's Logo for HAL Labs". USGamer.net. 17 April 2020. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  11. "Yash Terakura joins Throwback Entertainment as Chief Technology Officer". GamesIndustry.biz. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  12. "Iwata Asks: Kirby's Epic Yarn". Nintendo of Europe GmbH. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  13. Bayer, Glen (6 October 2005). "HAL Laboratory: Company Profile". nsidr. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  14. 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.
  15. "社長の夢から生まれた1／4サイズのマイコン名機「PasocomMini MZ-80C」 開発秘話と今後をハル研究所三津原社長に聞いた".
  16. "ハル研「PasocomMini PC-8001」の単体販売が決定". 28 September 2019.
  17. "企業情報 | Company | ハル研究所". 2 November 2020.
  18. "The Ultimax Collection". Commodore 64 Preservation Project. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
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