Welcome to Heads-up, VideoGamer.com's weekly feature which gives you an at-a-glance run-down on the games you'll be able to buy or rent this weekend. Every Tuesday we'll pick out the best of the bunch, link to our reviews and previews and keep you in the video game loop so you have enough time to pre-order for Friday's post. Time to splash the cash.

Recommendation of the Week: Spore, PC
We can't actually remember how long Spore has been on the horizon, but it's been a long time. You can find out just what we think about the ambitious life-creation game on Friday, but rest assured that it's well worth the money. It's also a game that runs well on quite dated hardware, which ties in nicely to the 'game for everyone' feel that developer Maxis has tried to carry over from previous mega hit The Sims. Even prior to release there's an amazing number of user-created creatures, vehicles, buildings and space ships on Sporepaedia. We can't create anything anyone else would want to see, but that doesn't stop us searching for random creations until the early hours.

Also out this week
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise and Pocket Paradise, Xbox 360 and DS: You wait for a sequel to Viva Piñata to come along and two arrive on the same day. Pocket Paradise is a rather excellent handheld version of the piñata breeding sim that hit the Xbox 360 in December 2006, offering pretty much all the features fans will expect and a simple control scheme that almost anyone could master. Trouble in Paradise is the true sequel to the original 360 release, offering new piñatas, LIVE Vision camera support and cooperative play. In any other week this would be our main recommendation, but it's not often a game like Spore comes along.

And the rest...
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - Xbox 360, PS3, PC and PS2
Monster Madness: Grave Danger - PS3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky - PC
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - DS
SPORE Creatures - DS
Infinite Undiscovery - Xbox 360
Facebreaker - Xbox 360 and PS3
Final Fantasy IV - DS
Assassins Creed (Budget) - PS3 and Xbox 360
Dinosaur King - DS
Gravity Zero Racing - DS
Guild Wars: The Complete Collection - PC
Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour - PS2
Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy - PC
Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition - Platinum - PS3
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI - PC