Newsbrief: European publisher Rising Star Games has partnered with Aksys to exclusively distribute its games in North America this year, including Xbox 360 shoot'em up Akai Katana. Rising Star Games announced its intentions to enter the North American market after opening a branch in California last January. The company recently absorbed the existing publishing business of Marvelous USA, and brought in Midway Games veteran Phil Robinson as the vice president of operations for the North American office. Aksys is best known for publishing niche Japanese games in North America such as Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and the Record of Agarest War Zero series. The first title it will distribute from Rising Star, Akai Katana, was developed by Tokyo-based shoot'em up game developer Cave.