1. The Kirby Series

2. Released April 27,1992
Developed by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo
Produced by Nintendo
Action, platform and puzzle solving elements
Known for bright, artistic settings, simplistic gameplay, cute characters, upbeat music and Kirby’s copy abilities
20 games as of right now
34 million units sold worldwide
One of the Top 50 Best Selling Video Game Franchises of All Time

3. How Kirby Came to Be
When Sakurai joined Nintendo, they were accepting concepts for “a game that everyone could enjoy”
He wanted to create a cute character everyone would love
Made Kirby a simple design so anyone could draw him
Masahiro Sakurai
Creator of Kirby

4. HAL Laboratory Japanese Video Game Developers
Established February 21, 1980
Known for Kirby, Mother/Earthbound and Super Smash Bros.
Headquarters in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Chairman and CEO: Masayoshi Tanimura
President and COO: Satoshi Mitsuhara
Director: Makoto Kanai & Shigefumi Kawase
Auditor: Akira Sobue
153 employees
Inutamago
The HAL Labs Logo

5. A Graphic Designer at HAL Labs
“I participated in the production of Kirby: Triple Deluxe for the Nintendo 3DS as well as other games, working on main character motion, enemy design, and more.”
“During that time, I learned two important things for game design production: you can’t fixate on your own opinion, and you need to think about the feelings of the player. For example, no matter how much you love the color blue, if you try to put a blue character in an ocean stage, it’ll hardly be visible and only make things more difficult for the player. When I design, I try to foresee if there’s any possibility of giving players a negative impression, putting what the thousands or millions of people who see this will think before whatever my own preferences are. I also think it’s important to be proactive in proposing ideas and bringing playfulness to every aspect of the game, for example in character movement or little jokes that’ll delight the player.”
(Sato; joined in 2013)
Etsuko Sato

6. Creations that lead to happy customers and happy employees, too
Their Philosophy
Creations that lead to happy customers and happy employees, too
“To bind us together through joy
The things important to us as creators are
amazement, enjoyment and warmth
To amaze you
To have you say, “That was fun!””
- HAL Labs Website

7. But Why is Kirby Loved So Much?

8. Some of the many reasons:
It’s cute
Ability stealing allows for an always changing playstyle
Experimental with every game
Great level design and visuals
The music
The simple and easy gameplay makes every attack you do seem powerful

9. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_(series)