As a lover of video games, one of the more interesting parts of my trip out here to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was a brief opportunity to climb behind the wheel of the Apex SC830. It’s a driving simulator that’s been developed by a fledgling company, SimCraft.

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill driving simulator. It weighs 250 pounds and features three degrees of movement. When you wreck the car - as I did a couple of times - you know it.

Now, don’t start getting excited about playing your favorite racing games on this thing. It comes with a price tag of $44,000. The company’s target markets for these devices are the Department of Defense, law enforcement agencies and professional race car drivers. But there’s hope.

Simcraft President Christopher Ciesielka said the company’s goal is to produce a scaled-down collapsible version that could fit under a bed when not in use. The initial target for that model, which could be on the market by 2010, is $5,000. “But we’d like to get it under three grand,” Ciesielka said.