Forsaken Fruit

First, in the way of substantial news, there's a new Wonder Boy game on the horizon, courtesy of the original creators and... Artdink? That's great news! I love those little guys!

Wait, I'm being told that "Artdink" is actually the Japanese developer responsible for No One Can Stop Mr. Domino! and Tail of the Sun, not the small desert aliens from Spaceballs. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be good anyway. It's also nice that Ryuichi Nishizawa is still involved with his creation even after the dissolution of his own game company Westone.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, here's why I'm really posting. I've been thinking about the low standing cherries have as a video game item... they're worth a measly 100 points in Pac-Man and its sequel Ms. Pac-Man, and have even less value in Game Freak's long-forgotten Mendel Palace.

Ten points? Seriously? A single dot in Pac-Man is worth ten points. I could get ten points just by standing still in some games. You need to earn trillions of points to get a high score in Mars Matrix, and you're giving me ten? That's not a reward, it's an insult.

It's not just those games, either. Not content with putting victory signs next to your health bar to demonstrate that you've won a round, Street Fighter Alpha 2 goes into specifics, using different icons to illustrate HOW you've won a round. Knocking out a foe with a light punch or kick earns you a cherry; presumably more as an insult to your opponent than you.

My question is this... what do the Japanese have against cherries, anyway? They seem to like cherry blossoms well enough, gathering every spring to watch the light pink petals delicately fall from the trees. You'd think from their unflattering depiction in video games that the Japanese regard cherries as an unfortunate by-product of the tree; something barely worthy of their notice. 

Personally, I don't like cherries either... the sensation of a round, squishy object with a thin skin in my mouth makes me feel like I'm eating an eyeball. I'm just one guy with weird eating habits, though. I don't understand why an entire country would hold a grudge against a fruit.