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==History==
 
==History==
[[File:HAL_Logo_1980-88.png|thumb|200px|The HAL Logo from 1980 to 1988]]
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[[File:HAL_Logo_1980-88.png|thumb|The HAL Logo from 1980 to 1988]]
HAL Laboratory started off making games for the MSX system and the Commodore VIC-20. During the early 1980s, some of their games since the 1986 Famicom Disk System game ''Gall Force'' (based on the anime series of the same name) have been released also on Nintendo systems.
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HAL Laboratory's first games were made in the early 1980s for the MSX, PC-88, and Sharp X1 home computers in Japan, and the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 in Western regions. They were also known as a designer and manufacturer of computer peripherals, particularly trackball controllers.
   
  +
Prior to the creation of Kirby, HAL Laboratory's leading video game franchises were the ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggerland Eggerland] ''puzzle-action game series, which made its debut with ''Eggerland Mystery'' on MSX in 1985, and the ''Hole in One ''golf simulation series. Their first title created for a Nintendo platform was ''F1 Race'', a 1984 racing game for the Famicom that was published by Nintendo exclusively in Japan. It was programmed in part by HAL member and future Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata. In 1985, ''F1 Race'' was reworked into ''Mach Rider'', which was made for both the NES and the Famicom. Using the same raster scrolling effect, it replaced the race car with a futuristic motorcycle, and added new gameplay elements like shooting enemies. HAL's work on both games went officially uncredited by Nintendo, though the development team of ''Mach Rider'' was able to hide their names in its default high score listing, along with a reference to ''Eggerland''. <ref>[https://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/mach-rider/credits Moby Games]</ref>
Before HAL Laboratory was bought by Nintendo, a game titled [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Slader_Glory ''Metal Slader Glory''] was released for the Famicom in 1991. Despite having a development of more than 4 years, having a 8 megabit cartridge (the largest at the time), and having advanced graphics, the game did not sell well, which led HAL Laboratories to bankruptcy. Nintendo then bought the company, ending HAL Laboratory's life as an independent publisher. Nevertheless, HAL maintained enough autonomy through the 1990s that they continued to self-publish some of their own games, and would still occasionally cooperate with other publishers and licensors, even releasing two more games on non-Nintendo platforms (''Revival! [[Lololo & Lalala|Eggerland]]'' for Windows PCs, and ''Mingle Magnet'' for WonderSwan). Since the year 2001, HAL has become more closely tied to Nintendo, and their [http://www.hallab.co.jp/eng/works/detail/002774/ sysdolphin] game development software suite was provided by Nintendo to third-party GameCube developers.
 
  +
  +
The ''Eggerland'' series would eventually move onto the Famicom Disk System and then the standard Famicom, before it was brought to the NES for Western territories and renamed ''Adventures of Lolo''. HAL later abandoned the ''Eggerland'' series in favor of ''Kirby'', but it received two final entries on Game Boy and Windows PC that postdated the release of [[Kirby's Dream Land]]. Despite being a defunct game series, HAL Laboratory continues to pay homage to ''Eggerland'' within the ''Kirby'' series through the characters [[Lololo & Lalala]].
  +
 
Before HAL Laboratory was bought by Nintendo, a game titled [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Slader_Glory ''Metal Slader Glory''] was released for the Famicom in 1991. Despite having a development of more than 4 years, having a 8 megabit cartridge (the largest at the time), and having advanced graphics, the game sold poorly, which led HAL Laboratory to bankruptcy. Nintendo then bought the company, ending HAL Laboratory's life as an independent publisher. HAL became even more closely tied to Nintendo in later years, and their [http://www.hallab.co.jp/eng/works/detail/002774/ sysdolphin] game development software suite was provided by Nintendo to third-party GameCube developers.
   
 
[[File:Hal_lab_logo.jpg|thumb|75px|Spring Logo]]
 
[[File:Hal_lab_logo.jpg|thumb|75px|Spring Logo]]
 
In many of its games during the early to mid-1990s it used the name HALKEN (derived from their literal Japanese name "HAL KENkyūjo") as well as HAL Laboratory. Some of its early titles were also released as HAL America, a North American subsidiary of the company. At the time, HALKEN has two variations of its logo: one of them was the Spring mark. In Japanese pronunciation, "HAL" is "はる (haru)," and "春 (Spring)" is also pronounced "はる." "Spring" can also mean a physical tool, "バネ," so this logo was modeled on the physical tool, "Spring."
 
In many of its games during the early to mid-1990s it used the name HALKEN (derived from their literal Japanese name "HAL KENkyūjo") as well as HAL Laboratory. Some of its early titles were also released as HAL America, a North American subsidiary of the company. At the time, HALKEN has two variations of its logo: one of them was the Spring mark. In Japanese pronunciation, "HAL" is "はる (haru)," and "春 (Spring)" is also pronounced "はる." "Spring" can also mean a physical tool, "バネ," so this logo was modeled on the physical tool, "Spring."
 
Beginning in the 1990s, HAL Laboratory also used the name "HAL Corporation" for a handful of games that were either made for non-Nintendo platforms, or published by companies other than Nintendo. This name may have been used as a loophole to work around the terms of an exclusivity agreement with Nintendo. The last game to use the HAL Corporation name was ''Blade'' on Game Boy Color, a movie tie-in published by Activision in 2000.
 
   
 
An important figure of HAL Laboratory is [[Masahiro Sakurai]], who created the Kirby character and the ''Super Smash Bros.'' franchise, and now leads his own company, Sora Ltd. Sakurai resigned from HAL Laboratory in 2003 after criticizing Nintendo's handling of ''[[Kirby Air Ride]]'s'' development, but continues to be involved with Nintendo through Sora Ltd.
 
An important figure of HAL Laboratory is [[Masahiro Sakurai]], who created the Kirby character and the ''Super Smash Bros.'' franchise, and now leads his own company, Sora Ltd. Sakurai resigned from HAL Laboratory in 2003 after criticizing Nintendo's handling of ''[[Kirby Air Ride]]'s'' development, but continues to be involved with Nintendo through Sora Ltd.
  +
  +
==HAL Corporation==
  +
[[File:Halcorp-0.jpg|left|thumb|Logo of HAL Corporation]]
  +
On August 3, 1992, a related company known as HAL Corporation was founded as an independent video game publisher by Mikio Ikeda, the former and first president of HAL Laboratory. They were also listed as a designer of computer peripherals. While a separate entity from HAL Laboratory, the two companies had some degree of collaboration: HAL Corporation licensed intellectual property from the other HAL to develop and publish the final game in the ''Eggerland'' series, ''Fukkatsu! Eggerland''. It was released for Japanese Windows PCs in 1996, outside of Nintendo exclusivity. Following a 2001 reprint of this game, there have been no further known releases from HAL Corporation, and it is presumed that they are no longer in business.
  +
  +
== HAL Egg ==
  +
[[File:Halegg thumb.jpg|thumb|220x220px|The HAL Egg logo]]
  +
In 2017, HAL Laboratory made a return as an independent publisher with its new company brand HAL Egg. The brand was established to focus on new ideas and gameplay concepts outside of the ''Kirby'' series. The first game to be released under the HAL Egg name was ''Part Time UFO'', a physics-based puzzle/action game starring the flying saucer character Jobski, who has a resemblance to the [[UFO]] Copy Ability. <ref>http://www.siliconera.com/2017/11/19/hal-labs-hal-egg-first-published-game-25-years/</ref> Initially released on iOS/Android mobile devices in Japan in November 2017, it received a localized English version in February 2018, and later an expanded Nintendo Switch port in October 2020. HAL Egg's second mobile game, ''Housuu de Shoubu! Kame Sanpo'', is a Japanese exclusive. It released in October 2019.
  +
  +
==PasocomMini==
  +
HAL Laboratory returned to the Japanese hardware market as a computer manufacturer in 2017 with the PasocomMini MZ-80C. It is a miniaturized recreation of the MZ-80C computer made by Sharp Corporation in 1979. Using software emulation of the original hardware, it is capable of freely running the user's own BASIC code, along with a selection of included programs. HAL's MZ-80C was followed up by the PasocomMini PC-8001 in 2019, a similar recreation of a 1979 computer by NEC.
   
 
==Influences on the ''Kirby'' series==
 
==Influences on the ''Kirby'' series==
 
===HAL Rooms===
 
===HAL Rooms===
 
{{Main|HAL Room}}A recurring Easter egg in many ''Kirby'' games is a hidden area containing [[Star Block]]s arranged to spell out "HAL." Not all HAL Rooms are hidden in obscure locations, nor do all make use of Star Blocks to spell out the company's name.
{{Main|HAL Room}}
 
A recurring Easter egg in many ''Kirby'' games is a hidden area containing [[Star Block]]s arranged to spell out "HAL." Not all HAL Rooms are hidden in obscure locations, nor do all make use of Star Blocks to spell out the company's name.
 
   
 
===Game Cameos===
 
===Game Cameos===
 
{{Main|Cameos}}Many of HAL Laboratory's other properties reference the ''Kirby'' series or are referenced in ''Kirby'' games. These include the following:
{{Main|Cameos}}
 
Many of HAL Laboratory's other properties reference the ''Kirby'' series or are referenced in ''Kirby'' games. These include the following:
 
 
*''Eggerland'' series (1985-2001)
 
*''Eggerland'' series (1985-2001)
 
*''Revenge of the 'Gator'' (1989)
 
*''Revenge of the 'Gator'' (1989)
Line 31: Line 42:
 
*''EarthBound'' (1994)
 
*''EarthBound'' (1994)
 
*''Super Smash Bros.'' series (1998-)
 
*''Super Smash Bros.'' series (1998-)
*''BOXBOY!'' series (2015-2017)
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*''BOXBOY!'' series (2015-)
 
*''Picross 3D: Round 2'' (2016)
 
*''Picross 3D: Round 2'' (2016)
   
 
===Other influences and references===
 
===Other influences and references===
 
*The current logo appears in the [[Paint Panic]] sub-game in ''[[Kirby: Canvas Curse]]''. In ''[[Kirby Super Star Ultra]]'' and onward, it also makes a cameo appearance as a possible [[Stone]] transformation. It appears as a balloon sculpture [[Circus]] Kirby can attack with and as a camouflage [[Archer]] Kirby can hide behind.
 
*The current logo appears in the [[Paint Panic]] sub-game in ''[[Kirby: Canvas Curse]]''. In ''[[Kirby Super Star Ultra]]'' and onward, it also makes a cameo appearance as a possible [[Stone]] transformation. It appears as a balloon sculpture [[Circus]] Kirby can attack with and as a camouflage [[Archer]] Kirby can hide behind.
*The level names of the levels in the Challenge Mode of ''Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition'' ('''H'''appiness '''H'''all, '''A'''pricot '''A'''trium, and '''L'''ast '''L'''and) spell out the abbreviation "HAL." This is one of the many level acronyms used throughout the series.
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*The level names of the levels in the Challenge Mode of ''Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition'' ('''H'''appiness '''H'''all, '''A'''pricot '''A'''trium, and '''L'''ast '''L'''and) spell out the abbreviation "HAL." This is one of the many level acronyms used throughout the series.
*The company's name may have had an influence on the names of several important elements in the series: [[Halberd|Battleship '''Hal'''berd]] in ''[[Kirby Super Star]]'' (and its [[Kirby Super Star Ultra|remake]]), [[Halcandra|'''Hal'''candra]] in ''[[Kirby's Return to Dream Land]]'', '''Hal'''dera Volcano in ''[[Kirby Fighters Deluxe]]'', and the [[Haltmann Works Company|'''Hal'''tmann Works Company]] in ''[[Kirby: Planet Robobot]]''.
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*The company's name may have had an influence on the names of several important elements in the series: [[Halberd|Battleship '''Hal'''berd]] in ''[[Kirby Super Star]]'' (and its [[Kirby Super Star Ultra|remake]]), [[Halcandra|'''Hal'''candra]] in ''[[Kirby's Return to Dream Land]]'', [[Haldera Volcano|'''Hal'''dera Volcano]] in ''[[Kirby Fighters Deluxe]]'', and the [[Haltmann Works Company|'''Hal'''tmann Works Company]] in ''[[Kirby: Planet Robobot]]''.
  +
[[File:KPR_HAAL.jpg|thumb]]
 
*The platform number at the train station in Stage 3 of [[Patched Plains]] is L∀∀-H. When flipped upside-down, the number becomes H-AA˥, a possible reference to HAL Laboratory.
 
*The platform number at the train station in Stage 3 of [[Patched Plains]] is L∀∀-H. When flipped upside-down, the number becomes H-AA˥, a possible reference to HAL Laboratory.
 
*[[Star Dream]] and [[Star Dream Soul OS]] use the letters H, A, and L to attack Kirby (though Star Dream releases them in reverse order).
 
*[[Star Dream]] and [[Star Dream Soul OS]] use the letters H, A, and L to attack Kirby (though Star Dream releases them in reverse order).
 
[[File:TKCD_HAL.jpg|thumb]]
 
[[File:TKCD_HAL.jpg|thumb]]
*During the second credits in ''[[Team Kirby Clash Deluxe]]'', an image of [[Magolor]] at his [[Shoppe]] is shown. The crates beside his cart have the letters H, A, and L engraved on their sides.
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*In ''[[Team Kirby Clash Deluxe]]'', if Kirby purchases all [[weapon]]s and [[armor]], the [[Shoppe]] changes appearance. The crates beside the cart have the letters H, A, and L engraved on their sides.
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*In ''[[Kirby's Blowout Blast]]'', [[Coin|Score Coins]] appear when Kirby defeats each boss in the [[Secret Path]]. The coins that appear after defeating [[Masher]], [[Kracko's Revenge]], and [[Masher|Mega Masher]] form the letters H, A, and L, respectively.
 
  +
[[File:Jambandra HAL.jpg|thumb]]
==Other Games==
 
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*In ''[[Kirby Star Allies]]'', the word "HAL" can be found on [[Jambandra Base]] in [[Far-Flung - Starlight Heroes]]'s overworld map. However, it is very hard to see.
{{construction|issection=1}}
 
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*In ''[[Super Kirby Clash]]'', if Kirby purchases all weapons and armor, the word "HAL" rarely appears written in clouds in the sky of both [[Village|villages]]. It slowly drifts from left to right.
   
 
==Trivia==
 
==Trivia==
 
*The president of Nintendo from 2002-2015, [[w:c:Nintendo:Satoru Iwata|Satoru Iwata]], was formerly president of HAL from 1993-2000, having first joined the company in 1983.
 
*The president of Nintendo from 2002-2015, [[w:c:Nintendo:Satoru Iwata|Satoru Iwata]], was formerly president of HAL from 1993-2000, having first joined the company in 1983.
  +
*The "HAL" in the company's name was chosen because, alphabetically, each letter was one space ahead of [https://www.ibm.com/us-en/?ar=1 IBM], suggesting superiority over the technology corporation.<ref>[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/11/iwata_explains_where_the_name_hal_laboratory_came_from Nintendo Life]</ref>
  +
*As HAL sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of 8 and 6, the number 86 is featured on various occasions as a reference to HAL.
  +
**In Stage 5 of [[Royal Road]], Stage 4 of [[Access Ark]], and [[Heavenly Hall]], if the player waits for 86 seconds in certain rooms, a [[HAL Room]] can be discovered.
  +
**In ''[[Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe]]'', the maximum score in [[C-R-O-W-N-E-D|C-R-O-W-N-E-D (Reprise)]] is 86555, which becomes "HAL GO GO GO" when the numbers are pronounced in Japanese. This number is also the score reward for defeating [[Void]] in ''[[Kirby Star Allies]]''.
  +
**In [[Team Kirby Clash]], the maximum EXP is 39860, which becomes "Thank You HAL" when the numbers are pronounced in Japanese.
  +
**Several [[Heroic Missions]] in ''[[Team Kirby Clash Deluxe]]'' have 86 [[Gem Apple]]s as the reward.
  +
**In ''[[Kirby Fighters 2]]'', staying in the Options menu for 86 seconds causes the music to transition into the ''[[Kirby & The Amazing Mirror]]'' Opening theme, followed by the Forest/Nature Area theme.
  +
[[File:HAL40thAnniversary.jpg|thumb|HAL Laboratory's 40th anniversary]]
  +
*For their 40th anniversary, the employees of HAL Laboratory drew a plethora of characters from media they've created, which included [[Kirby (series)|''Kirby'']] series characters.
  +
*A contemporary US-based developer group coincidentally known as "H. A. L. Labs", founded by Greg Autry, published an unlicensed clone of Namco's ''PAC-MAN ''known as "Taxman" on the Apple II computer platform in 1982. This company was entirely unrelated to the Japanese HAL Laboratory. Because of the extremely similar names, the Japanese HAL's own history of development for early home computers (which never included the Apple II), and some online databases mistakenly listing the two companies as being one and the same, misconceptions of a connection between Taxman and HAL Laboratory have been persistent.
  +
**HAL Corporation and HAL Laboratory have been similarly confused in online listings. Although HAL Corporation developed an ''Eggerland'' game, they were an entirely separate company who were merely using a license for the series granted by the other HAL.
  +
  +
==Artwork==
  +
<gallery>
  +
K25 HAL artwork.png|''[[Kirby series anniversaries#25th Anniversary|Kirby 25th Anniversary]]'' website
  +
K25 HAL artwork 2.png|''Kirby 25th Anniversary'' website
  +
KPR Sticker 200.png|''[[Kirby: Planet Robobot]]'' ([[sticker]])
  +
KPR Sticker 57.png|''Kirby: Planet Robobot'' (sticker)
  +
</gallery>
   
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
*[http://www.hallab.co.jp/ HAL Laboratory] (Page is in Japanese)
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*[http://www.hallab.co.jp/eng/ HAL Laboratory]
  +
  +
== References ==
  +
[https://twitter.com/Arc_Hound/status/1039602651053416454 MSX Magazine, Issue #0]
  +
[https://web.archive.org/web/20010209154545fw_/http://www.halcorp.co.jp:80/company/index.htm HAL Corporation official website (retrieved via Archive.org)]
  +
[https://www.pcmini.jp/ PasocomMini official website]
  +
  +
<references />
  +
[[de:HAL Laboratory]]
  +
[[es:HAL Laboratory]]
  +
[[ja:HAL研究所]]
 
[[Category:Companies]]
 
[[Category:Companies]]
  +
[[Category:Real-World]]

Revision as of 17:47, 15 April 2021

HAL Laboratory logo

The current logo.

HAL Laboratory, Inc. (株式会社ハル研究所, Kabushikigaisha Haru Kenkyūjo) is a Japanese video game company that was founded on February 21, 1980. The company is most famous for its character Kirby, the protagonist of the eponymous video game series, as well as the Super Smash Bros. series. It is a second-party development studio of Nintendo.

History

HAL Logo 1980-88

The HAL Logo from 1980 to 1988

HAL Laboratory's first games were made in the early 1980s for the MSX, PC-88, and Sharp X1 home computers in Japan, and the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 in Western regions. They were also known as a designer and manufacturer of computer peripherals, particularly trackball controllers.

Prior to the creation of Kirby, HAL Laboratory's leading video game franchises were the Eggerland puzzle-action game series, which made its debut with Eggerland Mystery on MSX in 1985, and the Hole in One golf simulation series. Their first title created for a Nintendo platform was F1 Race, a 1984 racing game for the Famicom that was published by Nintendo exclusively in Japan. It was programmed in part by HAL member and future Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata. In 1985, F1 Race was reworked into Mach Rider, which was made for both the NES and the Famicom. Using the same raster scrolling effect, it replaced the race car with a futuristic motorcycle, and added new gameplay elements like shooting enemies. HAL's work on both games went officially uncredited by Nintendo, though the development team of Mach Rider was able to hide their names in its default high score listing, along with a reference to Eggerland. [1]

The Eggerland series would eventually move onto the Famicom Disk System and then the standard Famicom, before it was brought to the NES for Western territories and renamed Adventures of Lolo. HAL later abandoned the Eggerland series in favor of Kirby, but it received two final entries on Game Boy and Windows PC that postdated the release of Kirby's Dream Land. Despite being a defunct game series, HAL Laboratory continues to pay homage to Eggerland within the Kirby series through the characters Lololo & Lalala.

Before HAL Laboratory was bought by Nintendo, a game titled Metal Slader Glory was released for the Famicom in 1991. Despite having a development of more than 4 years, having a 8 megabit cartridge (the largest at the time), and having advanced graphics, the game sold poorly, which led HAL Laboratory to bankruptcy. Nintendo then bought the company, ending HAL Laboratory's life as an independent publisher. HAL became even more closely tied to Nintendo in later years, and their sysdolphin game development software suite was provided by Nintendo to third-party GameCube developers.

Hal lab logo

Spring Logo

In many of its games during the early to mid-1990s it used the name HALKEN (derived from their literal Japanese name "HAL KENkyūjo") as well as HAL Laboratory. Some of its early titles were also released as HAL America, a North American subsidiary of the company. At the time, HALKEN has two variations of its logo: one of them was the Spring mark. In Japanese pronunciation, "HAL" is "はる (haru)," and "春 (Spring)" is also pronounced "はる." "Spring" can also mean a physical tool, "バネ," so this logo was modeled on the physical tool, "Spring."

An important figure of HAL Laboratory is Masahiro Sakurai, who created the Kirby character and the Super Smash Bros. franchise, and now leads his own company, Sora Ltd. Sakurai resigned from HAL Laboratory in 2003 after criticizing Nintendo's handling of Kirby Air Ride's development, but continues to be involved with Nintendo through Sora Ltd.

HAL Corporation

Halcorp-0

Logo of HAL Corporation

On August 3, 1992, a related company known as HAL Corporation was founded as an independent video game publisher by Mikio Ikeda, the former and first president of HAL Laboratory. They were also listed as a designer of computer peripherals. While a separate entity from HAL Laboratory, the two companies had some degree of collaboration: HAL Corporation licensed intellectual property from the other HAL to develop and publish the final game in the Eggerland series, Fukkatsu! Eggerland. It was released for Japanese Windows PCs in 1996, outside of Nintendo exclusivity. Following a 2001 reprint of this game, there have been no further known releases from HAL Corporation, and it is presumed that they are no longer in business.

HAL Egg

Halegg thumb

The HAL Egg logo

In 2017, HAL Laboratory made a return as an independent publisher with its new company brand HAL Egg. The brand was established to focus on new ideas and gameplay concepts outside of the Kirby series. The first game to be released under the HAL Egg name was Part Time UFO, a physics-based puzzle/action game starring the flying saucer character Jobski, who has a resemblance to the UFO Copy Ability. [2] Initially released on iOS/Android mobile devices in Japan in November 2017, it received a localized English version in February 2018, and later an expanded Nintendo Switch port in October 2020. HAL Egg's second mobile game, Housuu de Shoubu! Kame Sanpo, is a Japanese exclusive. It released in October 2019.

PasocomMini

HAL Laboratory returned to the Japanese hardware market as a computer manufacturer in 2017 with the PasocomMini MZ-80C. It is a miniaturized recreation of the MZ-80C computer made by Sharp Corporation in 1979. Using software emulation of the original hardware, it is capable of freely running the user's own BASIC code, along with a selection of included programs. HAL's MZ-80C was followed up by the PasocomMini PC-8001 in 2019, a similar recreation of a 1979 computer by NEC.

Influences on the Kirby series

HAL Rooms

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: HAL Room

A recurring Easter egg in many Kirby games is a hidden area containing Star Blocks arranged to spell out "HAL." Not all HAL Rooms are hidden in obscure locations, nor do all make use of Star Blocks to spell out the company's name.

Game Cameos

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: Cameos

Many of HAL Laboratory's other properties reference the Kirby series or are referenced in Kirby games. These include the following:

  • Eggerland series (1985-2001)
  • Revenge of the 'Gator (1989)
  • Uchuu Keibitai SDF (1990)
  • HyperZone (1991)
  • Trax (1991)
  • Arcana (1992)
  • EarthBound (1994)
  • Super Smash Bros. series (1998-)
  • BOXBOY! series (2015-)
  • Picross 3D: Round 2 (2016)

Other influences and references

KPR HAAL
  • The platform number at the train station in Stage 3 of Patched Plains is L∀∀-H. When flipped upside-down, the number becomes H-AA˥, a possible reference to HAL Laboratory.
  • Star Dream and Star Dream Soul OS use the letters H, A, and L to attack Kirby (though Star Dream releases them in reverse order).
TKCD HAL
Jambandra HAL

Trivia

  • The president of Nintendo from 2002-2015, Satoru Iwata, was formerly president of HAL from 1993-2000, having first joined the company in 1983.
  • The "HAL" in the company's name was chosen because, alphabetically, each letter was one space ahead of IBM, suggesting superiority over the technology corporation.[3]
  • As HAL sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of 8 and 6, the number 86 is featured on various occasions as a reference to HAL.
HAL40thAnniversary

HAL Laboratory's 40th anniversary

  • For their 40th anniversary, the employees of HAL Laboratory drew a plethora of characters from media they've created, which included Kirby series characters.
  • A contemporary US-based developer group coincidentally known as "H. A. L. Labs", founded by Greg Autry, published an unlicensed clone of Namco's PAC-MAN known as "Taxman" on the Apple II computer platform in 1982. This company was entirely unrelated to the Japanese HAL Laboratory. Because of the extremely similar names, the Japanese HAL's own history of development for early home computers (which never included the Apple II), and some online databases mistakenly listing the two companies as being one and the same, misconceptions of a connection between Taxman and HAL Laboratory have been persistent.
    • HAL Corporation and HAL Laboratory have been similarly confused in online listings. Although HAL Corporation developed an Eggerland game, they were an entirely separate company who were merely using a license for the series granted by the other HAL.

Artwork

External links

References

MSX Magazine, Issue #0 HAL Corporation official website (retrieved via Archive.org) PasocomMini official website