Mark Pacini

Mark Pacini was the lead designer on the Metroid Prime series.
==Metroid Prime series==
A notable creation of his in the game is the Parasite Queen.
Pacini took part in an interview on the Japanese Metroid Official Site along with Karl Deckard and Michael Mann. It was published on April 16, 2003, and unofficially translated into English by Shinesparkers on February 26, 2021. He commented that it was difficult to make the Screw Attack work in first-person, although it was later implemented into Echoes and Corruption. He also stated his belief that the essence of Metroid consisted of three components: a science fiction atmosphere, exploration (which he felt translated well to the first-person perspective), and Samus Aran as a character the player could identify with. Asked what a Japanese player might enjoy most about Prime, Pacini suggested they would enjoy the Visor system and Morph Ball. On a then potential sequel to Prime, Pacini said there were discussions about it.
When development began on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Pacini had ambitious ideas for an open world, non-linear experience, which made greater use of the Gunship. However, hardware limitations meant that these ideas had to be scaled back for the final game. Pacini created a 10 inch cardboard origami model of the Gunship to use as a visual aid when presenting his concept to employees,Reilly, Reece. "#109 - Bryan Walker Interview (Metroid Prime Trilogy, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart 7, Project Management)" (starts at 15:46). KIWI TALKZ. October 2, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021. which became something of a mascot for production.DidYouKnowGaming? "Metroid Prime Devs Share Secrets (EXCLUSIVE)". YouTube. April 17, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022. (starts at 20:39) Pacini took increasingly more ownership of the boss battles in Corruption, including rejecting a version of the final battle with Dark Samus.Kiwi Talkz. "#138 - Paul Tozour Interview (Metroid Prime 2 & 3, Boss Design, A.I., Leadership, Four Swords etc.)". YouTube. June 25, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022. (starts at 5:00)
Pacini was the design lead of Project X, an ultimately cancelled game in development at Retro set in The Legend of Zelda series.DidYouKnowGaming? "Retro Studios' 2 Cancelled Zelda Games (Exclusive)" YouTube. September 3, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzlROEEMvBs (starts at 17:50)
===Metroid Prime 3: Corruption comments===
Transcribed from an interview given to Yahoo! Games in 2007. The video can be viewed here.
==After Prime==
In 2008, Pacini left Retro Studios, along with Todd Keller and Jack Mathews, to form the independent Armature Studio. Pacini has stated that he chose to separate from Retro because he felt limited by Nintendo's influence, but that he was still on good terms with Nintendo and Retro. Bryan Walker described their departures as "jarring" to the team still at Retro Studios.
Pacini has admitted that he is unable to enjoy the Prime series, due to the depth of his involvement with their creation - he was only able to see the mistakes made in development when playing them, and as such he avoided playing them after they were released.http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/04/19/batman-meets-metroid-in-arkham-origins-sister-game.aspx?PostPageIndex=2 Commenting on this in 2018, Mathews said that he understood - but did not share - his sentiment, and said that "he's an eternal pessimist", but that he is also a "great creator" who sees the faults in his work and always strives to make his next game even better.
As of 2021, Pacini is no longer interested in discussing Metroid Prime in interviews.https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx-GmROtJAUZefPBxn6Fyn9mMqJLdAYIUo
==Trivia==
*In the beta version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, LCDR T. Huxley's name was M. Pacini appeared, in reference to Mark Pacini.
*Clark Wen commented on the 6MB audio limit of the Nintendo GameCube that "Getting everything to fit was a real challenge and led to a lot of harried late-night visits to Mark Pacini's office when the designers would decide to throw in a new creature in a level."
*According to Kynan Pearson, Pacini and Mark Haigh-Hutchinson worked heavily on the Wii Remote aiming and gameplay mechanics for Corruption, and he enjoyed brainstorming ideas with the two of them.Interview: Kynan Pearson. Shinesparkers. November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
*Pacini consulted Bryan Walker on the design of the GFMC encampments in Echoes and Corruption. They were also sitting in a break room together at E3 2004 when Satoru Iwata entered and personally thanked them for their hard work on the Echoes demo.
*Walker said that Pacini and Haigh-Hutchinson were "organic leaders" that served as a "cultural pathway" to the improved development values during production of Echoes.Interview: Bryan Walker. Shinesparkers. May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
==Gallery==
EGM_187_interview_page_1.jpg|An interview with Pacini in issue 187 of Electronic Gaming Monthly.
EGM_187_interview_page_2.jpg
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==References==
ru:Марк Пачини
Category:Mark Pacini
Category:Retro Studios employees
Category:Artists and Designers
Category:Special Thanks