HAL Laboratory

HAL Laboratory, Inc., formerly shortened as HALKEN, is a Japanese video game developer based in Nakano, Tokyo, with an additional office in Kai, Yamanashi. It was founded on February 21, 1980 by Mitsuhiro Ikeda. The company is best known for the Kirby series, but also worked on the Mother and Super Smash Bros. series. The company, which started out developing games for home computers, has been affiliated with Nintendo since 1984. Its logo, Inutamago, which depicts a dog incubating eggs, is meant to represent "an unexpected bond [...] one that brings the birth of something new."