Native name | 株式会社ハル研究所 |
---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha Haru Kenkyūjo |
Company type | Private |
Industry | Video games |
Genre | |
Founded | 21 February 1980 in Kanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan |
Founder | Mitsuhiro Ikeda |
Headquarters | Kanda Square, 2-2-1 Kandanishiki-cho, , Japan |
Number of locations | 2 studios [a] (2019) |
Key people |
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Products |
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Number of employees | 242 (2024) |
Subsidiaries | Warpstar, Inc. (50%; with Nintendo) |
Website | www |
Footnotes /references [1] [2] [3] |
HAL Laboratory, Inc., [b] formerly shortened as HALKEN, is a Japanese video game developer founded on February 21, 1980, in Chiyoda, Tokyo by Mitsuhiro Ikeda. The company started out developing games for home computers of the era, but has since established a strong relationship with Nintendo, and is often referred to as a second-party developer. [4] In 1991, a second office in Kai, Yamanashi was established. [5] The company is best known for its work on the Kirby and Mother series, and the first two Super Smash Bros. games.
Its logo, Inutamago, [c] which depicts a dog incubating eggs, is meant to represent "an unexpected bond [...] one that brings the birth of something new."
HAL Laboratory was founded on February 21, 1980, and originally developed games for home computers, such as the MSX and VIC-20. [6] There have been conflicting claims on the origin of the company's name. During a GDC 2005 keynote, Satoru Iwata stated that HAL was named after the computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey . [7] However, in a 2012 Iwata Asks interview, he said the company was named HAL because "each letter put [them] one step ahead of IBM." [8]
In 1984, the company began its business relationship with Nintendo. HAL assisted in the development of first-party Famicom games such as Pinball and Golf , while also creating original titles such as F1 Race . [7] In the west, some titles were published under HAL America Inc. (HAI), a North American subsidiary of the company led by Yash Terakura and based in Beaverton, Oregon, USA. [9]
In 1992, following the protracted development of Metal Slader Glory , the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Nintendo offered to rescue HAL on the condition that Satoru Iwata were to be appointed its president, a role he took from 1993 to 2000. [10] [11]
The company's current logo, Inutamago, was created in 1998 by Shigesato Itoi. The imagery is meant to represent "an unexpected bond [...] one that brings the birth of something new". Reception was reportedly lukewarm at first. [12] [13]
In August 2001, HAL Laboratory and Nintendo jointly established Warpstar, Inc., a company created to oversee Kirby merchandising and outside media, such as the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! anime series. [5] [14]
In 2017, HAL Laboratory announced that the company would start developing games for mobile devices under the brand name HAL Egg, in order to clearly differentiate them from the company's usual output. [15] The first title released under the brand name was Part Time UFO . [16] The company released miniature versions of the MZ-80C and PC-8001 computers in October 2017 and October 2019, respectively. [17] [18]
This list related to video games is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2024) |
Source: [21]
Year | Title | Platform(s) |
---|---|---|
1990 | HAL Wrestling [i] | Game Boy |
1991 | Kabuki: Quantum Fighter [i] | Nintendo Entertainment System |
1992 | Day Dreamin' Davey [j] | |
NCAA Basketball [j] [k] | Super NES |
Kirby's Dream Land is a 1992 action-platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is the first game in the Kirby series and marks the debut of Kirby. It introduced many conventions that would appear in later games in the series. The game follows Kirby as he goes through five levels to retrieve the Sparkling Stars and food of Dream Land from King Dedede.
Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. Iwata was a major contributor in broadening the appeal of video games by focusing on novel and entertaining games rather than top-of-the-line hardware.
Kirby's Adventure is a 1993 action-platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the second game in the Kirby series after Kirby's Dream Land (1992) on the Game Boy and the first to include the Copy Ability, which allows the main character Kirby to gain new powers by eating certain enemies. The game centers around Kirby traveling across Dream Land to repair the Star Rod after King Dedede breaks it apart and gives the pieces to his minions.
Kirby Air Ride is a 2003 racing video game starring Kirby, developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube.
Adventures of Lolo is a puzzle video game released in 1989 by HAL Laboratory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a compilation of puzzles from Eggerland: Meikyū no Fukkatsu and Eggerland: Sōzō he no Tabidachi. It is the fifth game in the Eggerland series, the third one released in Europe, but the first one released in North America. It was available on the Wii's and Wii U's Virtual Console in North America and in PAL regions, as well as on the Nintendo Switch Online's virtual Nintendo Entertainment System library.
Kirby Super Star, released as Kirby's Fun Pak in PAL regions, is a 1996 anthology action-platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is part of the Kirby series of video games by HAL Laboratory. The game was advertised as a compilation featuring eight games: seven short subsections with the same basic gameplay, and two minigames.
Masahiro Sakurai is a Japanese video game director and game designer best known as the creator of the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series. Apart from his work on those series, he also led the design of Meteos in 2005 and directed Kid Icarus: Uprising in 2012.
Factor 5 GmbH was a German-American independent software and video game developer. The company was co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name.
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development Division, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department, was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was preceded by the Creative Department, a team of designers with backgrounds in art responsible for many different tasks, to which Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka originally belonged. Both served as managers of the EARD studios and were credited in every game developed by the division, with varying degrees of involvement. Nintendo EAD was best known for its work on games in the Donkey Kong, Mario, The Legend of Zelda, F-Zero, Star Fox, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, and Wii series.
Super Smash Bros. is a crossover platform fighting game series published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The series is known for its unique gameplay objective which differs from that of traditional fighters, in that the aim is to increase damage counters and knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars.
F1 Race is a racing video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Famicom in 1984. A version was released in 1990 for the Game Boy in Japan and in 1991 in Europe and North America, including the Four Player Adapter for four-player gameplay.
Kirby’s Block Ball, known in Japan as Kirby no Block Ball, is a video game developed by Tose and Nintendo and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is a spin-off of the Kirby video game series. It is a Breakout clone; the player controls paddles along the screen's edge to knock a bouncing ball, Kirby, into destructible bricks. The game's 55 levels include power-ups, bonus rounds, and minigames. The team spent half a year revising the gameplay to match Kirby's signature characteristics. Kirby's Block Ball was released in Japan on December 14, 1995, later in North America on May 13, 1996, and finally in Europe on August 29, 1996.
Golf is a golf video game developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released for the Famicom in Japan in 1984, with a port to the Nintendo VS. System as VS. Golf or Stroke and Match Golf, released in arcades internationally, followed by another arcade version called VS. Ladies Golf. The original was re-released for the NES in North America in 1985, and for the Famicom Disk System in 1986 in Japan.
Alcahest is a 1993 action video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Square for the Super Famicom. The plot takes place in a world where an emperor leads his army towards conquest of the kingdom of Panakeia in the midst of the revival of the demon god Alcahest, who was previously defeated by a swordsman aided with the power of guardians. The player acts as the swordsman Alen, exploring and searching for items and power-ups, while fighting enemies and bosses. Throughout the journey, the player encounters guardians who help Alen with their power and allies who join his party to stop Alcahest.
Metal Slader Glory is an adventure game developed and published by HAL Laboratory for the Family Computer in 1991. The game is set in 2062 after humans have colonized the Moon and established several space stations. Earth-based mechanic Tadashi and his girlfriend discover a mech from a war eight years past with an ominous message stored in its memory suggesting Earth is in danger. Tadashi decides to venture to nearby space colonies along with Elina and his younger sister Azusa to investigate the origins of the mech. As Tadashi, the player speaks with other characters and picks dialogue and action commands to advance the narrative.
Kirby Super Star Ultra is a 2008 anthology action-platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The game is an enhanced remake of Kirby Super Star, originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996, to commemorate the Kirby series' 15th anniversary. The remake retains all game modes found in the original, and adds four major new ones, along with adding updated visuals and full-motion video cutscenes.
Cabbage was a canceled breeding simulator video game that was planned for release in the late 1990s on the 64DD, an expansion peripheral for the Nintendo 64 console. The prototype was developed by a team of Nintendo's "biggest talents", led by Shigesato Itoi, Tsunekazu Ishihara, Shigeru Miyamoto, and eventually Satoru Iwata. Miyamoto spoke eagerly about the innovative development of Cabbage across the years until early 2000. Years later, he reflected that it had drifted silently into cancellation but that it deeply influenced other Nintendo games such as Animal Crossing and Nintendogs.
Jun Ishikawa is a Japanese composer who was formerly employed at game company HAL Laboratory. He is best known for composing for the Kirby series along with Hirokazu Ando. As of 2024, he left HAL Laboratory, although he does intend on continuing to work for Kirby games as a freelancer.