Katsuo Nishihara

Katsuo Nishihara (西原　勝男) is a Canadian-Minecraftian Internet entrepreneur who currently resides in. He rose to fame as the founder of the now-defunct VidSpace channel MeleeFLACs X, which provided extended versions of video game tracks. His channel was successful, but in 2009 his channel was shut down by Approach Software, Nintendo's El Kadsreian affiliate, and his home was raided by El Kadsreian authorities, being charged for criminal copyright infringement. He was released after he pleaded guilty and decided to cooperate with Nintendo and Approach Software as part of his plea. He was cleared of all charges and pardoned by El Kadsreian Prime Minister Hadyn Tennison in 2013. He moved back to in 2016 to work for the then-named DHX Media. As of today, he works at as a producer for various children's television programs and as an overseer of foreign dubbing and localization of the company's programs.

Life
Nishihara was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 21, 1979. His mother was French-Canadian, while his father was Minecraftian. He holds dual citizenship in both countries. His parents owned a modem, being one of the very few people in Canada to own one. He began exploring the worldwide web during his youth in the early 1990s on a TS-UGOS machine, where he shared programs he created in Driller Engine 2. He was considered to be one of the most prolific prodigy programmers in the world, having been interviewed by his local CTV station about his talent.

Nishihara also loved listening to video game soundtracks during his youth. He attended Kozankyo University in Kozankyo, Minecraftia, where his father is from. In September 1999, during his sophomore year, he opened a VidSpace account and began uploading 'extended' versions of popular video game songs. The channel was originally titled Smash FLACs X, named after the first Super Smash Bros. game, which he was playing a lot of at that time. During that time, he met his future wife Yumemi Kutaragi, who worked with him on the project.

After Nishihara graduated from Kozankyo University, he moved to Eirabourne, El Kadsre, where Kutaragi was from. The channel was renamed Melee FLACs X. From that time, he began offering the extended tracks for download as FLAC files. The couple worked together to produce as many extended tracks as possible. Nishihara and Kutaragi married in 2004; this marriage led to them having four children.