In my early years, before I realised I was really a klutz, I wanted to fly fighter jets for a living. Since I lived in Canada, a nation ostensibly at peace with the world, I was unconcerned I might eventually have to actually use the jet to kill people.

I was a keen airplane modeller. I flew models and engaged in dogfights with friends. I joined the Air Cadets and was all set to go to Royal Military College. Fortunately for the military I put aside my flyboy dreams, and headed off to study the more mundane subject of philosophy at university.

But like the taxi driver in the Harry Chapin song, I still have visions of flying. Fortunately I don't have to drive a cab to slip into my fantasy of flying. I simply have to turn on my computer, start my Jane's Combat Simulations US Navy Fighter game and fly away.

Home computer and videogame users can now buy hundreds of various games on the market. These are becoming more sophisticated as the hardware improves and people demand more exciting bangs for their bucks. Keen gamers can also jump on the Internet and play games with and against people they don't know.

I have a preference for games which simulate driving or flying. I could go to the video arcade, but I prefer to drive, fight, crash and burn in the privacy of my home -- without the pros, often young children, sneering at my futile efforts to go one level higher.

Other people are more into the concept, adventure or role playing games. Most of these establish a type of world in which the player engages in some sort of nightmarish future. With its claustrophobic graphics, Doom is the classic scaled down version of these games. Others are more intricate.

These I have no interest in. But that's my nature. Millions of people are playing these games and having a lot of fun. Gamers spent about $1.4 billion on their favourite software in 1996.

In a survey Computer Gaming World magazine found that 32 million out of the 41 million households in the US with a computer have games installed. The magazine divided gamers into casual users, and the hardcore. Core gamers represent only 14 percent of the users, but buy 52 percent of the software.

A casual gamer buys an average of 3.4 games a year. By that standard I don't even count as I prefer to buy a game and stick with it. I only have two.

To be classified as hardcore you have to spend at least 11 hours a week playing and have about 42 games in your stash.

What's tops these days? In the upcoming March issue of the magazine (www.computergaming.com), Computer Gaming picked LucasArts Jedi Knight as game of the year in its 1998 awards. Titles such as Quake II, The Curse of Monkey Island, Fallout, Longbow 2, Wing Commander Prophecy, and Myth: The Fallen Lords, also received awards under the various classifications the magazine created.

Reading the descriptions of these games in PC Connection magazine (www.pcconnection.com) gives the gist of what dark forces people like pitting themselves against. Jedi Knight ($55 in the US) builds on the Star Wars movie and promises that you too can "Battle a multitude of enemies, including seven dark Jedi, each with unique abilities.'' Myth: The Fallen Lords ($45) delivers "Real Time Epic Battles Against Unspeakable Evil!'' in 3-dimensional graphics and has "your armies against the Fallen Lords as the living struggle to survive''.

Quake II ($50) is the sequel to the "legendary in-your-face skull-crushing combat game'' in which you battle "new breeds of intelligent and aggressive monsters as you seek to avoid becoming a fine mist of blood and bone''.

Of course with these games you'll probably end up spending even more than the list price on these games. Gamers end up buying the books to explain the software and strategies to take.

Three-dimensional graphic capability is the big attraction these days.

CyberBoy LCD Glasses uses "Stereoscopic 3D technology to provide true 3D images to your brain, enhancing realism and immersing you in the gaming experience.'' For $90 you get a shutter lenses encased in a head-mounted frame with stereo earphones. CyberRex ($130) is a more powerful version of the same thing.

Then there are the control panels. You can get actual steering wheels and foot pedals ($115) which allow you to get the real feel of the car racing games.

Jane's Combat Stick ($70) is modelled after a F-16 jet control and has 14 programmable functions. After learning how to use this piece of equipment you'll be able to hop into a real jet. Maybe.

Game developers are also turning to the Internet where there are a lot of free games to lure players. You might have to put up with a lot of advertising.

There are also pay-for-play games such as `Air Warrior` by Kesmai, which allows players to engage in computerised air battles. Kesmai charges Internet users about $5 for five hours of play per month and three cents a minute above that. The site attracts about 800,000 players per month according to the company. Forrester Research estimates online games earned about $127 million in 1997 and could rise to about $1.6 billion by 2001.

Perhaps I should get Byzantine: The Betrayal ($45) in which I'll become an "investigative journalist on the story of a lifetime, the plundering of the legacy of a lost civilisation.'' Hey, that sounds like a real scoop. Perhaps I'll be able to quit my job and live in virtual reality. After all it sounds much the same as what's happening in the real world. I wonder if my editor will agree.

Tech Tattle is a weekly column which focuses on technological developments and computer industry issues. If you have any ideas for a topic please call Ahmed at 295-5881, ext. 248, or 238-3854.