While it’s nice to read about import games, sometimes it’s also a little sad. I mean, you may not have the language skills necessary to play a foreign game. Or, more importantly, you may not have the funds. Importing games can get quite expensive, as you have to handle shipping and games are typically more expensive in other regions. So this week, Important Importables is going to focus on some games you can play – translated MMOs.

Korea is fast becoming known for creating quality MMOs. Best of all, companies are taking notice and these games are being translated and released in other regions. That means it’s time to salute some of these games, pointing out 10 that you can immediately download and start playing. You get all the joy of playing a game from another country, only in your own language and at quite an affordable price…

When the South Korean government says, “Turn those games off and go to bed, youngster,” they really mean it.

Chosunilbo reports The Assembly’s legislation and judiciary committee voted unanimously April 20, 2011, to pass a controversial game curfew bill. It would ban children 15 and under from playing online games from midnight until 6 a.m.

Interestingly, the law does nothing to affect offline or console games. The console game provision would probably be a little hard to police.

At CES 2011, RoboBuilder had a small booth in the Korean cove as I like to call it (North Hall, Grand Lobby, Lower Level), mixed between cable companies and other technical odds and ends.

At the booth he had both an Xbox 360 controller and a PlayStation controller rigged to wirelessly control a couple of his many robots…

If you’re looking for a fairly simple to understand and addictive import game, look no further than Korea. Yes, that’s right, Korea. Some of the easiest to play import games, for people who can’t understand the language, are music games and Korean developers and publishers are known for putting together some pretty great ones.

There’s a catch though – most of these good, Korean music games are commonly found on the PSP. You may find them in arcades, in the case of the Pump it Up series, or online, for example Audition, but one common tie among most Korean music games is that they appear on region-free PSP UMDs. Well, there is one more commonality – most PSP Korean music games also have an English language option.

So read on, and learn more about Audition, DJ Max and Pump It Up…

Nintendo’s DSi is hitting Korea for the first time on April 15, 2010. To try and encourage more interest, Nintendo’s not just releasing white, black, blue and pink DSis, it’s also releasing a limited edition red DSi MapleStory DS bundle. This special bundle, which includes a DSi with little MapleStory mascots around the camera, will cost ₩237,000 (~$212).

MapleStory DS has been a long rumored and anticipated DS title, crafted by Nexon. At one time there were even rumors of a worldwide release. At the moment, only an April 15 Korean release has been confirmed. Unfortunately, MapleStory DS isn’t exactly what everyone was hoping it would be – that is, a portable version of the popular MMO with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection functionality. Instead, it’s a straightforward action RPG with no Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support.

As for finding and importing MapleStory DS or the MapleStory DSi bundle, well, that’s going to be more difficult…

This is a quick, limited time offer from Meritline so act fast (and read on to get the right discount code)

The first 300 orders of the day get the Wii wired sensor bar for $1.99 and that includes shipping. Don’t expect to get it in a hurry (or in fancy packaging) since most of the products on the site are being shipped over ocean. The deal started at 8 AM Pacific time so you might still have a chance.

Korean company Gamepark Holdings Co., Ltd., has released the GP2X Wiz handheld game system and… what, you though Nintendo’s DSi was the only new handheld on the block?

The Wiz will be offered early May 2009 in the US through various web sites – although it is available now on the GP2X Store – for $179. Part of the excitement surrounding the system is that it runs on Linux and will have an open SDK, meaning just about anyone can make games for it.

I’ve been toying with the Korean game system for about a week and I’m pretty impressed. And by “toying” I do mean more than just playing games. Here’s a look at the hardware, the games mine shipped with and some initial impressions.

Title: Audition PortablePrice: $48.90System(s): PSPRelease Date: June 4, 2007Publisher (Developer): T3 Entertainment (T3 Entertainment)ESRB Rating: N/APros: Spiritual successor to Bust a Groove, fun puzzle/dancing game, cute characters, ad hoc multiplayer and 67 songs.Cons: Not a lot of track variety, can get old quicklyOverall Score: 7.5/10

Once upon a time, a long time ago, the Playstation had a wonderful, dance/puzzle game called Bust a Groove. It was similar to Parappa the Rapper, and it had players pushing buttons to make characters dance. It became a cult classic, but was possibly ahead of its time.

Cue Audition Online the spiritual successor to Bust a Groove. The campy feel of the original game was gone, but the button-pressing dance goodness lived on. In Korea, Audition Online’s birthplace, the game became so popular that it spawned a PSP version – Audition Portable. Audition Portable is essentially a pint-sized version of Audition Online and is a lighthearted PSP game rhythm fans will enjoy…

Title: Pump It Up Exceed PortablePrice: $12.90 (on sale at Play-Asia – retails for $49.90)System(s): PSPRelease Date: November 30, 2006Publisher (Developer): Andamiro (Studio 9)ESRB Rating: N/APros: Very nice song selection, Korean or English language options, cool background videos playing while you play, online ranking and a video mode where you can just listen to the music and watch the videos.Cons: The cool background videos are too cool, and often distracting. Also the control scheme takes getting used to and there is no auto-save function.Overall Score: 7/10

Not too long ago, Play-Asia had a deal on a special Pump It Up bundle, where you’d receive both Pump It Up: Exceed Portable and Pump It Up: Zero Portable for $19.99. Of course I jumped on the deal, and upon receiving my shipment decided I’d dedicate a column to reviewing one of the games.

The Pump It Up games are similar to Dance Dance Revolution, except they have five markers to hit instead of four. This makes the PSP version a bit more difficult, as you would imagine. It also requires a bit of an inventive control scheme to make the whole thing work, as the game involves diagonal arrows facing UP+LEFT, UP+RIGHT, DOWN+LEFT, DOWN+RIGHT, along with a center square/circle thing…

South Korean publisher/developer Webzen’s forthcoming massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) Huxley has been stalled since it was first announced in 2005. Unfortunately, beyond a few new videos, little information or even a friggin’ release date has been offered.

Thankfully, we might finally be able to play Huxley sooner rather than never with the recent announcement that NHN USA has picked up the distribution rights for Huxley. Don’t expect to see…