HAL Laboratory

is a Japanese developer that was founded on February 21, 1980 that is closely affiliated with Nintendo. It is headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. HAL was named as such because "each letter put them one step ahead of IBM". The company is most famous for its character Kirby, the eponymous protagonist of the series of games; the Mother series (otherwise known as EarthBound); and the Super Smash Bros. series.