Welcome to VideoGamer.com Plays, our weekly feature where we give you the inside track on what's been whirring in our disc drives this week. We'll be honest (so if we've been playing Superman on the N64 we'll tell you). But if we've been hammering the latest billion-selling blockbuster we'll let you know about that too.

Tom Orry, Editor - Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Xbox 360
After seeing a week's worth of games I wandered over to the Microsoft booth for my last appointment of Games Convention 2008. I'd seen some good games (Far Cry 2, Killzone 2, Borderlands, to name just three), but the vehicle Rare had managed to make in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts made the game stand out as the most creative I'd seen. The goal looked simple: Knock down 140 dominoes (in a ring formation) without touching more than one with your vehicle. Tapping one didn't do much at all really, so someone at Rare came up with a hovering rocket car. Equipped with four rocket engines it could hover into a clearing in the middle of the dominoes. On landing the rockets were placed horizontally instead of vertically, with one pointing to the rear of the other in a square around the vehicle. Hidden on the side were some fans and the wheels had been placed at right angles to one another running parallel to each side of the vehicle. On starting the engines the vehicle span violently in a circle, the fans turned on and the dominoes were blown down - not quite all, but most of them. If that's the kind of creativity needed to complete the challenges in Nuts & Bolts I can't wait to see what else Rare has cooked up.

Wesley Yin-Poole, Deputy Editor - Street Fighter IV, Arcade
Capcom's Games Convention booth was great for many things - free Mr. Toms (peanut bars for those of you who don't know) and our upcoming interview with Bionic Commando guru Ben Judd to name but a few. But by far the greatest, most stupendously brilliant thing about Capcom's GC booth were the two linked Street Fighter IV arcade cabinets sitting enticingly together on free play. Well, I couldn't pass an opportunity up like that - especially with an audience of games journalists from all over the world watching my every move. After securing a 10 game winning streak with boxer Balrog, Capcom UK's very own Leo Tan emerged from a presentation to 'kick me off'. His Zangief beat my Balrog, but he's not my main anyway. Following that defeat I took big-haired American Guile on a glorious path to victory, first beating Leo's Zangief, then destroying his Dhalsim before finishing off his Ryu with an Ultra Combo in the third round - 'STRIKE!'. It doesn't get any better than this.

James Orry, News Editor - Lords of Shadow, PS3 & Xbox 360
I saw some really great looking titles at Games Convention, but on Friday after some hands-on time with Konami's GTI Club+ (which is looking brilliant) I was shown a brief teaser trailer for Konami's Lords of Shadow. From Madrid-based Mercury Steam, this dark fairytale is scheduled for release in 2010 - in fact, its release is so far off that Konami was unsure if it was going to show it off at GC. Gladly it did and it looks phenomenal. The trailer was only brief - you can see it for yourself here - but don't be fooled into thinking you're watching CGI. You're seeing the game being rendered in real time on a PS3; Konami told me the section seen in the demo features a fully controllable camera. After Konami confirmed that what I'd seen was all happening in real time and the full game looks ten times better I suddenly got goosebumps down my arms. Bear in mind, this could have been the after effects of five too many beers the night/morning before, but either way I'm convinced Lords of Shadow will be one of the greatest looking games released this generation.

Neon Kelly, Previews Editor - Pure, (PS3, Xbox 360. PC)
To be honest, racing games rarely get me all excited and dribbly. I know people who require a trip to the bathroom after the merest mention of Gran Turismo, but I've never seen the appeal in obsessing over a collection of virtual cars, honking in pleasure as you man-handle your crankshaft. Whatever. Anyhow, the point is that Pure is a rare beastie - a racer that really got under my skin. In truth, it's as much a Tony Hawk's-style trick fest as it is a standard vroom-vroom competition (I'm running out of euphemisms for "racing game") - but the sense of speed is really something else. Being a complete malco, I spent my first two or three races ploughing into the scenery or off the nearest cliff - but I soon got the hang of the bunny-hop technique that sends your quad bike soaring into the air. The jumps in this game are ridiculously big, and I reckon I'll never get tired of the incredible views you get as you pirouette through the sky, 100 miles up. When you successfully land after a series of tricks, your driver pumps their fist and whoops in celebration. I know exactly how he feels.

Let us know what you've been playing in the comments section below.