[Taken from the Bits official site]

  Aleksandra Krystyna Theresa Krotoski, born October 22nd.

  Aleks, also known as "that loud American one" or "the one with the green in her hair", is a videogame purist, a fan of almost any type of game other than beat 'em ups or driving games, partly because they're about the only ones she can't whip with her eyes closed. Unafraid of the complexities of hardcore gaming, she even likes real-time strategy games. The words "minions" and "little people" dance around her mouth like dwarves in an Elizabethan court. But it's not all beard-envy. The cry of "Die suckers" and gunshots can often be heard from Aleks' window too, and thus she's a truly rounded human being.
  Aleks is a true old-style gamer, one of those rare breed who played the very first few arcade games out there. Pumping the quarters in her home town of Louisiana, hanging around laundrettes to fire up coin-ops like Frogger, Aleks learned the skills and knowledge that have got her here. Daddy was never short of a quarter or two, and little Aleks was never afraid to spend any of them. The inevitable leap to a home console was made with the Atari 2600, the first genuine home videogame smash, and the reason for many a late piece of homework for young Aleks. Pitfall, Breakout and Q-Bert entered Aleks's world. From there came the NES, the SNES and finally the N64. Yes, Aleks is a Nintendo freak, and unashamedly so. The heavy workload of a psychology degree in Oberlin, Ohio suggested leaving the console back at home. Thinking herself free from the harsh commitments of hardware, Aleks the undergraduate walked straight into study rooms brimming with PCs. 
  Overnight, she was launched into another gaming dimension - one that would follow her to a year of studies in Britain and back again. She completed her studies in Washington, and found work in a psychiatric hospital. The relative calm and logic of Dungeon Keeping and the satisfying guntoting of Quake became a necessary antidote to the uncontrollable goings-on of daily life. Power was sought and power was won. 
  But all those edgy in-patients got the better of her and, before too long, Aleks had escaped to Britain once again, looking for a new way to pay for all those games. That US of A drawl found its way onto local radio ads for such wonders as sausages, but Aleks kept her brain ticking over too with a session of ticket punching at an art house cinema. Bits gave Aleks access to more games than is strictly decent, but those earlier loves still stay with her. The old arcade games, the Nintendo aesthetic and those deep, complex PC games..
 

The Interview

Is it true that you have plans to write a book?
Yep, I just need to get my act together.

If you were, what would it be about?
That's the getting my act together part. I'm not sure. I'm a big ol' fan of children's books that don't condescend to the mentality of three year olds and try to teach creativity and intellectual irreverence. Roald Dahl kind of stuff. Or something about freaks. Like Katherine Dunn's Geek Love or John Irving's World According to Garp or Prayer for Owen Meany. Things that re-jig people's assumptions and take you through hidden realms of darkness.

According to the Bits Brain, you're a bit shy. How has fame affected your life?
Yeah, it's changed things. I blush a lot more. I've learned to exercise the Small Talk muscle. I don't go out if I've got PMT in case I hit someone. Poor Bits Brain. I don't let him take my picture onset. I'm the one holding the camera.

What will you do after Bits?
Generally tear shit up. Catch up on my game playing. Question my existence. Search for the benefactor who'll send me on a food tasting tour of the world. Apply to join the Space Programme. Produce and write for a new digital channel called Unity TV (arriving in September).

There's been some debate on both the MSN Bits forum and the 4 Later forum on the rights and wrongs of meeting celebrites. How does it feel when you're approached?
Depends on the mood I'm in, really. Unless they hurl abuse, I'm cool about it. But it is strange to know people are actually watching us throw things around. I never realised. We're up in a smelly hospital studio in Glasgow most of the week. We don't necessarily get to watch the show. We know the forum's there but that's just words on a black screen. The thing that made me realise that we do have an audience is when Simon Pegg from Spaced told me that his character's favourite show is Bits. That was pretty damn cool. No, it rocked.

In Sartre's famous play, No Exit, hell is portrayed as four people trapped in a room with each other for eternity. If you had to go through something similar, which three people would you choose?
Urg. Ummmmmmmmmmmm - can I get to that one later?

Deus Ex Machina on the Spectrum was arguably the first videogame as art. In your opinion, will videogames ever have the same status as books or films, in terms of their artistic merit?
Yes.

Freudian or Jungian?
Jungian.

When life gets you down, how do you cheer yourself up?
I kick ass in my Jeet Kun Do class.

There's this guy. Let's call him Mr Man. He has this dream where he's kissing a rather attractive American woman and, to his surprise, she bites his tongue. Hard. Any idea what that might mean?
Not even going there.

Will you marry me?
Thanks for the offer.

And here's some from the 4 Later forum:

Do you ever have weird computer game type dreams? [Styler]
Yeah, if I've been playing something incessantly. Black and White seeps in there, Half Life, Mr Driller. Depends on what I'm plugged into at the moment.

From first to last, how many game systems have you owned or had given to you? [Styler]
Starting with Atari through to Intellivision to Vector to NES, SNES, GameBoy, N64, DC, PSX and GBC.

Did you know that you can take a virtual tour of your old high-school on the net? ...and if you go into the toilets and right down the U-bend there's a picture of someone wearing a cowboy hat. Interesting, yes? [Styler]
You went to my high school page? Didn't even know there was one. Eep. Is there a picture of Freshman Flush Day?

What's your favourite type of booze? [Gra]
Sometimes wine, sometimes vodka, sometimes gin, and often a nice cold beer. Not necessarily in that order.

How did you end up in Glasgow, and how have you found life in Scotland? [Scoby]
Mmmm, Glasgow. I decided to study abroad when I was at University, and 'cause I'd wanted to move to London since the age of 12, I wanted to check out another part of the UK before settling down south. My aunt went to Stirling and told me to hit Edinburgh, but I ignored her and went to Glasgow Uni for a year. I fell madly in love with it (though can't remember why, to be honest) and was planning on staying regardless of my incomplete US degree. My Dad had to come to the UK to force me on the plane. Literally. So I finished up at Oberlin College and came back. And discovered a hell of a lot more that I expected. It's brilliant.

What would you be doing if you weren't working on Bits? [Gra]
Producing radical radio documentaries. Or playing with my bellybutton fluff. Or learning to talk backwards.

Where do babies come from? [Builder's Bum]
The Stork. Don't want to think about mommy underneath daddy. No.

What's your favourite place in the world? [Scoby]
Glasgow. And San Francisco.

What's been the highlight or best memory of working on Bits so far? [Shuffleupaggus]
The space madness. 4am insanity.

Do you know Dom (Dominic Diamond)? Everyone seems to know Dom! [Carnageus]
I've never even seen Gamesmaster!

What's your favourite next generation console and why? [Squizz]
DC. It's out and it's got the best games.

Did you ever invisage that you would have a very strong cult following for such a low budget (but high quality) show? [Monkey]
I think low budget is key to cult status. And no. Hell, are we cult? Excellent. Tick that one off the Life List. Now we can really do some damage.

Can you get me a job? I really need one. [Bob]
You could come and feed me sweeties.

Do you need a teaboy who can bake apple crumble and chocolate cake? [Quietboy]
Yes please. But only if you make Damn Fine Coffee and Cherry Pie too.

Do you ever read any stuff on the 4 Later forum or post anything under an alias? [Timothy]
I used to and then people started being cruel. I don't need or deserve that. So now I ignore it and get on with my life.

What are Emily and Bouff really like? [Timothy]
Evil hags. Satanists. Possibly paranoid schizophrenics. Personified vomit.

How did you get into Bits in the first place? [Eldrad]
It was a total accident. I went along to the Vids audition 'cause I used to work in an arthouse cinema and know buttloads about film. When I heard they were auditioning Nige, I knew the boy had the job. Didn't think much else about it until I heard from Ideal World that Nige had told them I play games. Good boy. They asked me loads of questions and shoved me in front of a camcorder. I talked about The Simpsons or something. Goldeneye, I think. God, I hope that tape never resurfaces (that's not a cue for the hunting posse to take IWP by storm by the way). They gave me the job. I stayed working at the cinema until I couldn't juggle the two anymore, and then did Bits full time. Still on the books at the GFT. I keep pestering them to give me shifts. It was the best job I've ever had.

The Man, can you ask her when she is leaving for London? And tell her Glasgow will be a quieter place when she goes, especially Groucho St Judes [Jones]
I have left for London and am now assumed into the underbelly of the Big Smoke.

Women gamers are just emerging in the new millenium. You've been playing games since the retro age, has it been kind of weird waiting all this time for a female population to stand up and take part in gaming? [Lazarus]
No, it's nice being part of a minority. Makes you fight harder and celebrate longer when someone actually does something of worth. Like when a chick was crowned the US Crazy Taxi Champion, and beat the 2nd place dude by a couple thousand points. Ooyah. Take that, biatch.

What do you look for in the ideal partner? [Spindrift19]
Teeth.

Do you have a personal philosophy? [Carnageus]
Sleep is good.

What do you think of... a certain Bouff fan? [Biggie]
He's a psychopath, and Bouff should be frightened.

The glass... half-empty or half-full? [Monothan]
Depends on the time of the month.

 I happened to notice a new video games programme in the TV listings, and was interested in finding out exactly what Channel 4 had created. I imagined some cheesy show, with a bunch of blokes lounging around some sort of sci-fi, spage-age set. Kind of like a late-night Gamesmaster. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself watching an amusingly eccentric show presented by three women. One of my friends, a hardcore gamer, wondered whether or not the presenters really knew what they were talking about, and I started to wonder as well.
  However, with the arrival of Bouff [Emily Booth], the show started to change. The presenters had a new kind of chemistry and with the experience of Aleks and Emily, the show has become much easier to take seriously, as well as being more entertaining, thanks to increasing levels of irony and subtlety present in the show.
  As the show has grown, the presenters have grown with it. This brings me to Aleks who, I feel, has come into her own since the beginning of the third series. I am unable to dismiss her views on games, and I feel that of the three presenters, she is the one who thinks most deeply when reviewing a title. Bouff has a full understanding of atmosphere, particularly when it comes to games in the horror genre. Emily is practical, usually able to predict whether or not a game will have mass appeal. Aleks' reviews, however, are of a quite different nature. It isn't so much what Aleks knows, but what she understands. This understanding is, at least for me, the point around which Alek's appeal as a critic and a presenter is focused.
  Aleks' appeal, though, doesn't rest merely on an intellectual level. As a person, Aleks has many positive qualities. She's witty, charming, warm and good-natured. Of course, being a bloke, I couldn't possibly write about Aleks without mentioning just how attractive she is. There are moments when Aleks smiles in a certain way that I find unbearably sexy. There are moments when she delivers a gag in a certain way that I find hysterically funny. And there are moments when the camera catches her in a certain way that make me feel like I'm falling in love.
  But - and this is a big 'but' - I haven't. The real Aleks is a mystery to most of us and, for nearly all of us, always will be. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, I've created this site as a kind of tribute to the side of Aleks that we do see.
  Hope you enjoy it.