[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hal_laboratory.png]]
[[caption-width-right:280:'''Dream Hatcher''', a.k.a. '''Inutamago''' (犬たまご, "Dog Eggs")]]
'''HAL Laboratory, Inc.''' (株式会社ハル研究所 ''Kabushiki gaisha Haru Kenkyūjo'') is a long-time Creator/{{Nintendo}} affiliate company (though like Creator/IntelligentSystems and Creator/GameFreak, they are an independent company not owned by them) that originally started in 1980 as PC developers for Platform/VIC20 and Platform/{{MSX}}, but from Platform/{{Famicom}} and onwards went completely Nintendo-exclusive.

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 ''Franchise/{{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 [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer IBM]]".[[note]]That's also how [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey [=HAL=] 9000]] was named.[[/note]] Their current corporate logo is the "Dream Hatcher," which was conceptualized by Creator/ShigesatoItoi and represents "incubating ideas that hatch into incredibly fun games". The logo is often included as an EasterEgg within their works, alongside their GoroawaseNumber, 86.

Notable staff from this company include Creator/MasahiroSakurai, the creator of the ''Kirby'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series who went independent in the mid-2000s; the late Creator/SatoruIwata, 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.

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!!Games made in part or whole by HAL Laboratory:
[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/AdventuresOfLolo''
* ''VideoGame/AirFortress''
* ''VideoGame/{{Arcana}}''
* ''VideoGame/BoxBoy''
** ''[=BoxBoxBoy!=]''
** ''Bye-Bye [=BoxBoy!=]''
** ''[=BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!=]''
* ''VideoGame/DayDreaminDavey''
* ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' (NES port of ''VideoGame/DefenderII'')
* ''[=EarthBound=]''/''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series
** ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' (aka ''Mother'')
** ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'' (aka ''Mother 2'')
** ''VideoGame/Mother3''
* ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}''
** ''New Film/GhostbustersII''
* ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}'' (NES port)
* ''VideoGame/KabukiQuantumFighter''
* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' franchise
* ''VideoGame/MetalSladerGlory''
* ''VideoGame/{{Millipede}}'' (NES port)
* ''VideoGame/{{Picross}} 3D''
** ''Picross 3D: Round 2''
* ''VideoGame/PokemonRanger'' (first game only)
* ''VideoGame/PokemonSnap''
* ''VideoGame/RevengeOfTheGator''
* ''VideoGame/{{RollerBall}}''
* ''VideoGame/SimCity'' ports on SNES and N64
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''
** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64''
** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee''
* ''Vegas Dream''
** ''VideoGame/VegasStakes''

!!Games made by HAL Egg:
* ''Kame Sanpo''
* ''VideoGame/PartTimeUFO''
[[/index]]
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