Lego finally adds Princess Peach to its Super Mario sets

Lego’s Super Mario sets have been around for roughly two years, but there’s been a conspicuous omission: namely, any of the leading women from the video games. The company is rectifying that soon, thankfully. Lego has marked Mar10 Day by introducing Princess Peach to its Super Mario Adventures range. Buy her Starter Course and you can defeat opponents like Lemmy, collect fruit, earn coins and ride a swing set.

You can team up with Mario or Luigi, of course, and you’ll rack up more coins if you play with someone else.

The Peach Starter Course won’t be available until August 1st, when it will sell for $60. A combo Cat Peach suit and Frozen Tower expansion set will arrive at the same time for $80. And there’s more regardless of your character preferences. Lego will sell a Big Spike’s Cloudtop Challenge expansion for $70 on August 1st, while a smaller Fuzzy Flippers add-on will cost you $20. Lego has also teased Peach’s Castle, Yoshi’s Gift house and Goomba’s Shoe sets, although there’s no US pricing for those as we write this.

We’re wondering where the other characters are — there’s no Daisy or Pauline, at least not yet. Still, this is welcome news if you’ve wanted a wider range of characters to play beyond Nintendo’s signature plumbers.

Valve’s Steam Deck is (mostly) ready to run Windows

It’s now realistic to install Windows on a Steam Deck, provided you’re wiling to live with certain limitations. Valve has released Windows drivers for the handheld’s Bluetooth, graphics and WiFi, helping you use the system properly if the Linux-based SteamOS isn’t to your liking. The developer has also shared instructions on how to install Windows on its gaming machine.

As you might gather, though, it’s not a simple process. Audio drivers remain “in the works,” so you’ll have to rely on a Bluetooth or USB-C audio device. You’ll have to install Windows 10 (Windows 11 support is coming through a BIOS update), and there’s no dual-boot option at the moment — you’ll have to replace SteamOS entirely.

Valve warned that it can’t provide support for Windows users. You can revert to SteamOS using a USB recovery drive if necessary.

The limitations might make a good case for buying a Windows-native alternative like the Aya Neo or GPD Win 3. If you prefer the Steam Deck hardware and don’t mind the lack of a safety net, though, this might be the moment you’ve been waiting for. Windows not only promises more performance thanks to native code (no Proton here), but access to Destiny 2 and other games that were previously off-limits.

Nintendo stops shipping the Switch and other products to Russia

Nintendo has stopped shipping its products, including the Switch, to Russia for the foreseeable future. “This is due to considerable volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods,” the company told Eurogamer. It made the decision two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, though it didn’t mention the crisis in its statement.

The move follows Nintendo suspending sales of digital games in Russia last weekend. It said the Russian version of the eShop “is currently under maintenance following the suspension of transactions in Russian rubles by the payment provider.”

On Wednesday, Nintendo delayed Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp indefinitely. The game was supposed to be released on April 8th, but the company said it was pushing back the debut of the military strategy game following “recent world events.”

Other major gaming companies have withdrawn from Russia (and, in some cases, Belarus). Sony has halted PlayStation hardware and software sales there, while Microsoft put all sales in the country on hold. Ubisoft, Take-Two, CD Projekt Red, EA, Activision Blizzard and Epic have stopped selling their games there as well.

Bungie joined its peers in taking a stance on the conflict on Wednesday. It said players in Russia and Belarus will still be able to play the free base Destiny 2 game and have access to any expansions or content they bought before then. However, they’ll no longer be able to purchase currency or DLC such as The Witch Queen.

Pinterest expands shopping features with in-app checkout

Pinterest is moving deeper into e-commerce with some more features it announced at its annual advertiser summit. The platform says users have long been asking for a way to shop directly on Pinterest and you can now complete some purchases without leaving the app. 

The in-app checkout feature is currently in beta for some Shopify sellers in the US. Pinterest plans to expand access in the US this year. It will contact folks who run stores through Shopify with more details soon.

The company also announced a feature called Your Shop at Pinterest Presents. It calls this a “personal shopping concierge” that will provide users with their own personalized shopping pages. It’ll recommend creators and brands based on your preferences and activity. The feature is in beta for some US users. Pinterest plans to expand Your Shop to all US pinners this year ahead of an international rollout.

In addition, Pinterest says it will be easier for sellers to upload catalogs to the platform and keep prices up to date. Using a trends tool, sellers in the US, UK and Canada will be able to view real-time search data, see trend recommendations and learn more about their audiences. The trends tool will be available in other countries later in 2022.

Pinterest is following in the footsteps of Instagram by adding its in-app checkout. Instagram has had a similar feature since 2020. Meta’s app added a dedicated shopping section toward the end of that year.

Earlier this year, Pinterest added a feature that lets users see what a piece of furniture will look like in their home before they buy it using augmented reality.

Meta Quest 2 fitness data will be available outside of VR

The Quest 2 headset’s fitness tracking has been helpful for staying in shape, but there’s been a major catch: your stats weren’t viewable outside the headset, making it impractical to check your progress or combine it with info from other apps. That won’t be an issue before long. As of April, Meta will make your Oculus Move fitness tracking data available through the Oculus app on Android and iOS, and will sync progress with Apple Health on iOS.

There are no mentions of syncing Move data with Google Fit or other Android platforms, but Meta said it was “exploring” future tie-ins. The company made clear that Oculus app and Apple Health syncing are strictly opt-in features, with end-to-end encryption on Meta’s servers. Your stats won’t influence ads on Facebook or other Meta services.

The expansion was arguably necessary to make Oculus Move relevant for more people. There’s a good chance you don’t rely solely on VR for workouts, and you probably don’t want to return to your headset just to check your calorie burn. This upgrade lets you treat VR as just one piece of a larger fitness puzzle, and might persuade you to try a headset if you were hesitant before.

The ‘Overwatch 2’ PvP beta will go live in late April

Despite months of silence and years of delays, Overwatch 2 is definitely still a thing and Blizzard finally has a substantial update to share. The beta for the sequel’s 5-on-5 PvP mode will go live in late April on PC, and interested players are able to sign up today via the official site. 

This test is a big deal for the franchise, considering the current Overwatch PvP standard is 6-on-6. The beta includes 5-on-5 battles, four fresh maps, the new Push mode, upgraded heroes (Orisa, Doomfist, Bastion and Sombra), a revamped ping system and the new character, Sojourn. A closed alpha for Overwatch 2 PvP launched today for Blizzard employees, Overwatch League pros and small groups of other, special players. 

This is all good news for PvP mode, but in terms of PvE, it’s cause for pause. Blizzard apparently needs more time to work through the sequel’s PvE mode, and that’s why it’s breaking out PvP — a known quantity — for testing first. 

“We are changing our release strategy by decoupling Overwatch 2’s PvP and PvE experiences from one another to get new PvP content into your hands sooner, while we continue to work on PvE,” the Overwatch team said in its update today. Breezing past the terrible sound of “decoupling,” it seems like Blizzard is having more difficulty implementing its new PvE mode than anticipated.

Game Director Aaron Keller said in his video update that there will be additional PvP public beta tests throughout the year, and he promised to provide more frequent updates about Overwatch 2 in the future.

“We recognize we haven’t communicated well, haven’t kept you up to date, and honestly, we’ve let you down when it comes to delivering Overwatch content,” Keller said, with not a lie in sight.

NVIDIA’s high-end GeForce Now tier is now available on a monthly plan

NVIDIA is making it easier for folks to try out the highest-end version of its GeForce Now game streaming service. There’s now a month-to-month payment option for GeForce Now RTX 3080. Until now, NVIDIA only offered six months of access for $100. Now, it costs $20 per month to try that tier. That lowers the barrier to entry, though you’ll save more in the long run with the six-month plan.

GeForce Now RTX 3080 supports 1440p gaming with ray-tracing at up to 120 fps on Mac and PC and 4K HDR resolution at 60 fps on NVIDIA Shield. It also runs at up to 120 fps on mobile displays. The $10 per month GeForce Now Priority tier is capped at 1080p at 60 fps.

NVIDIA also announced as part of its GFN Thursday update that six more games from Steam are available to play on the service: Buccaneers!, Distant Worlds 2, Ironsmith Medieval Simulator, Bus Driver Simulator, Martha is Dead and Survival Quiz City.

March Madness Live app will let you watch two NCAA games at once on more devices

As the name implies, the NCAA’s March Madness (aka the Division I men’s basketball tournament) is chock full of games that may be difficult to follow — thankfully, that might not be an issue if you have the right device. The sports association, Turner and CBS Sports are expanding a feature in the NCAA March Madness Live app that lets you watch two games at once (one without audio) on more platforms. It was already available on Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV, but should now be an option on Google TV and Xbox One. This isn’t completely novel and will only help so much on the busiest match days, but you should have 20 percent lower latency and 5.1-channel surround sound.

The desktop, mobile and tablet versions of March Madness Live are limited to picture-in-picture viewing while you browse the app. The software is also available without these viewing perks on Roku players and some LG TVs. Everyone has access to an upgraded “Fast Break” feature that overlays and breaks down vital stats during games.

The new March Madness Live experience should be available on March 17th, right after the “first four” games on the 15th and 16th. You can also watch the tournament through CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV platforms, including Paramount+ if you’re a subscriber. While you’d ideally have more than two streams, this is likely to be the best viewing option you’ll get on a big screen during the college competition.

Razer made a Bluetooth lapel mic for mobile streamers

Razer’s latest livestreaming gear is built for broadcasts far away from your desk. The company has unveiled the Seiren Bluetooth, its first Bluetooth lapel microphone. The clip-on design’s omnidirectional mic and AI-based noise suppression are built to help mobile streamers and vloggers who want better voice quality than their phone can offer, particularly in noisy situations.

The lapel mic includes a 3.5mm jack for monitoring through headphones, and you can customize it through the Razer Streaming App to tweak the noise suppression levels, reduce latency for game streams and adjust sidetone for monitoring. The battery lasts for up to four hours with AI enabled and six hours with AI disabled, or enough for a lengthy IRL stream. Included socks help reduce popping and wind noise both indoors and outside.

The Seiren Bluetooth is available for $100 and should work with “all” phones as well as common streaming apps like Streamlabs, Twitch and YouTube. Whether or not that’s a good value may depend on your needs. Razer is most eager to compare the Seiren to Sabinetek’s similarly-equipped $140 SmartMike+, but this also assumes you insist on a wireless option. You can spend considerably less if you’re happy with a USB- or Lightning-based wired lapel mic.