You know, these games would make a great way for Nintendo to show appreciation to their North American market.
If they made these things available to say, people who had registered 12 or more games or had a subscription to Nintendo Power for the price of $25.00, I think you'd see these games bought up fast. Especially if they packaged them the way they did the Japanese versions. It would be a big collector item and a great way to encourage more people to stick with Nintendo for exclusives like this.
They might see a jump in subscriptions or more people registering their products. Plus, they still make back a bit of maoney so it's not a total loss for all the packaging. So far, the best thing Nintendo's done here was the Zelda gamecube discs where you could get all those old Zelda games.
Personally, I would love to get these games and I love the way they look, packaging and graphics. I would get them in a flash if Nintendo gave an offer like that.
On another note, this reminds me of an idea I've had for awhile that I think Nintendo should try. They should make one month of the year (preferably one with few games coming out like June or July) where they release a bunch of quirky Japanese games. They could give the games a special label or packaging to promote this. Games like Rythm Tengoku, Giftpia, Mother 3, Band Brothers, Project Hacker, Tingle RPG, Legend of Quiz Championship Tournament, and a bunch others I can't think of at the moment. These are games that might not sell that much on their own (though some of you may debate that about certain titles) but by giving them a special label and a special time of release, they may actually sell quite well. Especially, if released at a time when there are not many other games coming out, like the summer droughts when they're not selling many games anyway.
This way, you don't have to make a huge batch of games and hope they sell, you don't have to worry about the games being lost in the shuffle of big releases, you give the games a brand or recognizable label, you have a chance to see if you can establish a new franchise, you don't have game droughts, it gives you a way to appease some fans (even if they are a minority) by bringing over titles they've comic booked about and a chance to open up and expand your market.
The truth is, lately things seem to be improving a bit with the importing. Nintendo's bring Elite Beat agents over, something I never thought they'd do. As well as other software coming over that didn't seem likely, such as The Tower (though this was Sega), and Electroplankton and Tamagotchi Corner Shop. I think even Brain Training was something that seemed at first like it might be Japan only, but after it picked up steam in sales, it was then decided to bring over. Plus, Nintendo has talked about making their virtual library import free, so it seems they're starting to open up a bit and take some chances with our market.
Anyways, that's just my two cents.