Tag: Hal Laboratory
Anniversary HAL Laboratory Is 45 Years Old Today
Kirb your enthusiasm
Whip up a last-minute cake and bring out the candles because we have a big birthday on our hands, folks. HAL Laboratory, the company behind Kirby, the OG Smash Bros., EarthBound and another boatload of beauties that we'll get to in just a moment, has turned 45 today. Yep, on 21st February 1980, Mitsuhiro Ikeda founded HAL with...
News HAL Laboratory's Lovely Physics Puzzler 'Part Time UFO' Has Been Delisted On Mobile
Switch version is still available
The mobile version of HAL Laboratory's Part Time UFO has been delisted from storefronts as of today, the game's official Twitter has announced. But don't worry, the Switch version isn't going anywhere. Shared on Bluesky by AK, Part Time UFO's original mobile release is no longer available to download on mobile...
Countdown 3DS eShop Spotlight - BOXBOY! Trilogy
#25 - BUYBOXBOY!
For the month before the 3DS and Wii U eShops close for new purchases on 27th March, each day we're going to highlight a specific eShop game for one of those consoles and give a short pitch as to why we think it deserves your love and attention — before it's too late. The chance to add these to your library will be gone for good...
News Kirby And The Forgotten Land Wins Best Kids Game At New York Game Awards
We're certain adults play it too, though
The New York Videogame Critics Circle recently held the 2023 New York Game Awards, its 12th annual celebration of gaming. As expected, FromSoftware's Elden Ring took home the biggest prize of the night, winning the Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year. Over on the Switch, however, Kirby and the...
News Masahiro Sakurai Recently Had A Meeting With HAL Laboratory
New game when?
Although Masahiro Sakurai is now done with Smash Bros. Ultimate, it seems like he may not be slowing down any time soon. In a bit of an update on social media, the director of Nintendo's all-star Smash Bros. series revealed how he recently had an online meeting with his former employer, HAL Laboratory. He had no need to necessarily...
News Takashi Hamamura, Veteran At HAL Laboratory, Has Resigned
Onto greener pastures
Takashi Hamamura, game designer for HAL Laboratory, has announced that he has resigned from the company. In a tweet posted on April 28th, the veteran stated (via a rough translation) "Today was the last day of work at HAL Laboratory. I would like to finally do game design research activities from next month. If you are...
Round Up The Internet Celebrates Kirby's 30th Anniversary
They grow up so fast...
It's official, folks: the Kirby franchise is now 30 years old - can you believe it? When HAL Laboratory's debut title in the series - Kirby's Dream Land - launched on April 27th, 1992, we doubt that anyone truly believed the little pink blob would go on to be one of the most widely recognised and celebrated figures in the...
News Masahiro Sakurai Celebrates Kirby's 30th Birthday On Social Media
It's been 30 years since Dream Land
Today is a very important day in the history of the Kirby series. 30 years ago in Japan on 27th April 1992, the pink puff started out in his very first adventure - Kirby's Dream Land on the original Game Boy. The creator of Kirby was actually Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai, who at the time, worked at...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel #93 - Kirby's Dream Land
Celebrating Kirby's anniversary with a fight
Hello everyone, welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl *cue stadium-sized cheer*! Last week, we looked at the classic, the incomparable, the ruddy good video game that is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Pitting the US box art against the Japanese box art, you fine folks were quite clear in...
News HAL Laboratory Looking Forward To Sharing Kirby's "Next Phase" With Fans
More adventures starring the pink puffball are on the way!
Nintendo's pink puffball Kirby hasn't been sighted since the surprise release of Kirby Fighters 2 on the Switch last year. This doesn't necessarily mean HAL Laboratory has forgotten about him, though. Following on from an interview late last year, when the company teased new games,...
News Kirby Studio HAL Laboratory Relocates Its Tokyo Base To Nintendo's New Building
Joins Game Freak and Nintendo EPD Tokyo
Kirby studio HAL Laboratory has relocated its main Tokyo office to Nintendo's new building in the city, it has been revealed. The company – which remains independent but has strong ties with Nintendo (referred to in Japan as "keiretsu") – has also taken on more staff, bringing its headcount up from 169 to...
News HAL President Shares His Thoughts On The Company's History And Future
"HAL Laboratory is a company where everyone is a creator"
In celebration of HAL Laboratory's 40th anniversary, Famitsu recently sat down with HAL Laboratory president, Kawase Shigefumi. Surrounded by familiar sights and sounds in the Kirby Café, President Kawase shared his thoughts on the history and future of the beloved game developer. First...
News Miyamoto Congratulates HAL Laboratory On Turning 40, Speaks Of Iwata, Smash Bros. And More
"I could take a bath within full view of Mt. Fuji"
This year, HAL Laboratory - most known for the Kirby and EarthBound series, as well as its work on the early Super Smash Bros. games - celebrates its 40th anniversary. Back in February, near the specific anniversary date, the company launched a celebratory website alongside a lovely p
News HAL Laboratory Celebrates 40th Anniversary With New Website And Artwork
(>'-')> <('-'<) ^('-')^ v('-')v
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of HAL Laboratory, a Japanese game development studio which has been closely affiliated with Nintendo for decades. The exact date for the 40th anniversary was actually just three days ago; originally founded on 21st February 1980, the studio is perhaps best known...
News HAL Laboratory Seeking Staff For New Project Based On The Kirby Series
The pink puff returns
HAL Laboratory appears to have no trouble pumping out new games starring the pink puffball on a regular basis and with this mind, it's currently recruiting for a new Kirby project, presumably targeting a Switch release in the near future. All up, the company is seeking an Action Programmer, UI Programmer, Graphics Programmer,...
News A Forgotten (And Kirby-Free) HAL SNES Title Has Been Preserved For The Ages
Anyone for golf?
Some great news for retro gaming enthusiasts as the year of noteworthy Super Nintendo efforts continues unhinged. Reports of successful preservation of HAL Laboratory's Special Tee Shot prototype and subsequent public release means that we can all now enjoy the isometric mini-golf game that was meant to show up as a regular SNES...
News HAL Laboratory Celebrates Its 39th Anniversary With A Cute BOXBOY Comic
Happy Birthday to the House of Kirby!
As noticed on Twitter by @teamkirby92, the developer that brought us Kirby, BOXBOY, Earthbound, Smash Bros. and much more is celebrating 39 years in the video game business with a little comic featuring Qbby and his companion, Qucy. Below is the entire comic, plus a translation courte
News First 4 Figures Reveals Warp Star Kirby Statue
What’s pink, round and $350?
First 4 Figures are known for producing premium models based on popular video game characters. In recent times we’ve seen Banjo-Kazooie and Shovel Knight figures and now the talented team has revealed Warp Star Kirby - the fourth model in the Kirby resin statue line. This latest creation is available in...
News HAL President Satoshi Mitsuhara Reminisces On His Close Friendship With Satoru Iwata
"We were very close friends"
Many will remember Satoru Iwata as the late president of Nintendo, and particularly as the warm and gentle face of some fantastic Nintendo Direct moments but, of course, he is also well known for his time at Kirby developer HAL Laboratory. While technically being an independent studio, HAL has always been very closely...
News HAL Laboratory Opens HAL Egg, a Mobile Game Development Branch
And no, they aren't making a Kirby game yet
HAL Laboratory is a studio that is primarily known for one thing: Kirby. The series has arguably never been doing better, and with a new Kirby game due out on Switch next year, one would think that the company would be focusing all its resources on the super tuff pink puff, but a new announcement today has...
Feature A Celebration of HAL Laboratory - Forever Focused on Fun
Kirby, Pokemon, Smash Bros., and Box Boy...
From now until the start of the new year we're going to be republishing some of what we feel are our best features of 2015. Hopefully this will offer the chance for newer readers to catch up on content they might have missed and allow long-time fans to reacquaint themselves with features they enjoyed the...
News Shinya Kumazaki Commemorates Kirby's 23rd Birthday on Miiverse
Claims his favorite spin-off game is Kirby Air Ride
Kirby is one of Nintendo's most beloved characters, having appeared in numerous games since his debut in 1992. While the super tough pink puff stars in his own series of mainstream platformers, Kirby is arguably most notable for how much experimentation he's been subject to. Kirby games are known...
News HAL Laboratory Finally Joins Twitter
Work on those Japanese lessons
Nintendo and its closest partners have gradually become more accustomed to the busy world of social media. Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and various others have been picked up by Nintendo in various regions, and are often used to reveal release dates, special editions and all manner of announcements. HAL...
Review Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Third time's the charming
Kirby’s Dream Land 3 is the epitome of a lovable gaming experience. Carefree and popping with irresistible charm, this SNES platformer builds off the two previous Game Boy entries in the series and fulfills the potential they introduced. That doesn’t mean the core mechanics have suddenly become nuanced or up to par with...
Review Kirby Super Star (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Dedede-lightful
Kirby Super Star is a smorgasbord of creativity, as if the developers at HAL Laboratory had a game jam for two weeks straight and came out on the other side with a beautifully disheveled collection of Kirby’s best. Nine sub-games, ranging from one-button tests of reflex to multi-hour adventures, are stuffed onto the SNES with no...
