Everyone in Japan gets involved in video games. It almost seems like it is an honor to have a song included in an upcoming title. When these games are localized for North American releases, it’s a toss-up as to what happens to the original music. Many companies are including the original tracks with games, while some will substitute them with songs in English.

Hikaru Utada is one of the biggest pop singers in Japan. This means that her music has appeared in games, animes and Japanese dramas. She’s also has worked as a voice actress – one of her roles was Pinoko in the anime Black Jack.

Before we get into her relationship to video games and a few of her songs I’d recommend, here’s a brief backstory. Utada was born in New York, New York. She’s fluent in English and Japanese. Her mother’s the Enka singer Fuji Keiko. Her first album was released as Cubic U in both the US and Japan. After that, she focused on a Japanese-only career. She’s sold over 40 million records, and has released eight CDs. She released her English R&B CD, Exodus, in the US in 2004, and is currently working on a second US CD that might be released this year.

I have never been so excited about the release of a game on a system that I don’t own. Namco Bandai has just sent out a press release announcing that Bonnie Pink will be performing the theme song for the Xbox 360 game Tales of Vesperia. The song for the game is called “Ring a Bell” and it is already available on iTunes. I think it’ll be a good fit. For some reason the Tales of games always relaxed me, and a lot of her songs are very soothing and airy.

In case you haven’t heard of her, Bonnie Pink is pretty famous. She’s been singing since 1995 and has released 15 albums – one of them a greatest hits collection. She’s one of the few Japanese pop/rock stars I like who doesn’t mangle and mutilate the English language. Well, there are a few pronunciation issues in some songs (cough – “Get in My Hair” or “Sweet” – cough). If you’re interested in her music, I recommend “Last Kiss,” “5 More Minutes,” “Just a Girl” or “Sweet.” Yes, I know I just criticized “Sweet” – it’s still a good song and I love it. All the songs I’ve mentioned are available on iTunes.