Starting as a coding and porting factory at first, as time went on, HAL began to create its own IPs, which all ultimately ended up under the Nintendo banner — with the exception of titles developed by their mobile branch, HAL Egg. They're primarily known for the Kirby franchise, which they co-own with Nintendo via the joint venture "Warpstar, Inc." They also provide development support to other Nintendo projects, including their firmware.
Despite how it looks always capitalized and all, "HAL" isn't actually an abbreviation for anything. It was just named that because "each letter put them one step ahead of IBM".note Their current corporate logo is the "Dream Hatcher," which was conceptualized by Shigesato Itoi and represents "incubating ideas that hatch into incredibly fun games". The logo is often included as an Easter Egg within their works, alongside their Goroawase Number, 86.
Notable staff from this company include Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series who went independent in the mid-2000s; the late Satoru Iwata, a programmer who later became HAL's president and eventually the head of Nintendo; and Shinya Kumazaki, the current general director of the Kirby series.
Games made in part or whole by HAL Laboratory:
- Adventures of Lolo
- Air Fortress
- Arcana
- BoxBoy!
- BoxBoxBoy!
- Bye-Bye BoxBoy!
- BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!
- Day Dreamin' Davey
- Defender (NES port of Defender II)
- EarthBound/Mother series
- EarthBound Beginnings (aka Mother)
- EarthBound (aka Mother 2)
- Mother 3
- Ghostbusters
- New Ghostbusters II
- Joust (NES port)
- Kabuki Quantum Fighter
- Kirby franchise
- Metal Slader Glory
- Millipede (NES port)
- Picross 3D
- Picross 3D: Round 2
- Pokémon Ranger (first game only)
- Pokémon Snap
- Revenge of the 'Gator
- RollerBall
- SimCity ports on SNES and N64
- Super Smash Bros.
- Vegas Dream
Games made by HAL Egg:
- Kame Sanpo
- Part Time UFO
