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 for the Kirby series, Mother (or EarthBound), and Super Smash Bros., as well as that glorious dog and egg logo, of course.

As well as the video above, showing off a lovely piece of celebratory art, a new website has appeared which invites you on a journey through the company's history and a new code has been shared for Super Kirby Clash.

You can scroll through HAL's history via its new website

Speaking of its history, the studio has also worked on a number of Pokémon titles - including the likes of Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Stadium on N64 - and even the Face Raiders app on 3DS. It also developed 3DS puzzler BOXBOY!, resulting in this celebratory artwork which adorably replaces the logo's eggs with characters from the game.

Congrats, HAL! Here's to another 40 years...

[source gonintendo.com]