One of Namco Bandai’s most popular series in Japan is a game that will most likely never see a release outside of the country. I’m talking about Idolm@ster, a game which casts players as producers and tasks them with discovering and creating the next singing sensation.

The reason it will likely remained trapped in Japan is simple. The Idolm@ster games feature voice acting by a number of different actresses who not only speak the lines for their characters, but also sing every single song available in the game. Games can feature over 10 songs, and typically have 9-10 idols to choose.

In honor of The Idolm@ster Dearly Stars, the first DS game in the series and the first entry in the Idolm@ster 2nd Vision series, Important Importables’ is devoted to the series today…

For hardcore gamers a rare, imported game could make their holiday extra special. The only problems are that there are tons of games out there and they can be pretty pricey. Also the key is to find a game which is easy to play even if the only Japanese you know is “Domo arigato Mr. Roboto.”

So, for this installment of Important Importables, I’ve put together a small compilation of Nintendo DS, PSP, Playstation 2, and Xbox 360 import games which are sure to delight any gamer. You’re probably wondering why there aren’t any Wii or PS3 games listed here though. The fact is that there really aren’t that many games for those two systems in Japan that aren’t already available here. If there is a game that isn’t available here yet, it will be in a few months. Its pointless to import something when waiting two or three months will yield the same game, only in English and probably $20 cheaper.