This week, sale prices on Samsung Galaxy products, free games from Playstation, and new games coming to Nintendo Switch this spring and summer. But first, an explanation of Clubhouse, the audio app that everyone’s talking about.

All about Clubhouse, where all the cool kids are hanging out these days

Clubhouse is the word of the week. It’s a new audio platform – only on iOS at the moment – that is playing up exclusivity to build attention and appeal. While it’s got potential, I don’t know that there’s much to get all FOMO about at the moment.

And if the company that built the app doesn’t get more responsible with how it’s operating, it might not matter.

Like the early days of Gmail, you have to be invited to Clubhouse to be able to use the mobile app. If you’re interested, you can download the app, reserve your user name, and if anyone who is a contact is already in Clubhouse, they can give you one of their limited invites.

Don’t you feel special?

But when you are in Clubhouse and setting up your profile, it will ask you for permission to access your contact database. And if you grant this permission, the app then uses that information in ways that you may not appreciate.

It will pester you to invite people, for one. And if anyone in your contacts joins up, it will let you know, suggesting that you connect with them.

And as Will Oremus writes in Medium, there may be people in your contacts that you don’t want to have a social connection to. Or people who have you in their contacts who may be a danger to you.

What Clubhouse is doing is effectively doxxing their members by sharing their personal details and connections with others without permission or disclosure.

And as one person discovered, once you’ve signed up to Clubhouse even if you don’t share your contact information, if you’re in anyone else’s contact list you’ll show up as a Clubhouse member.

Worse, they were unable to delete their account.

if these clowns joinClubhouse</a> don&#39;t answer my FOUR REQUESTS to delete my account and quit doxxing me to my contacts lists, that&#39;d be fucking FANTASTIC. WHO ON EARTH THOUGHT NOT BEING ABLE TO DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT WAS A GOOD IDEA? this is like, abusive.</p>&mdash; diet choke (bustybruiser) February 25, 2021

They’ve since deleted their account, but doing so is not something a member can do without help from Clubhouse itself.

So if you’re going to angle for an invite, do so knowing that Clubhouse has some issues to solve with its responsibility to members.

If you find yourself on the platform, the range of topics is, as you might expect, wide, given that there are people on the platform from around the world.

On a Saturday afternoon, I was browsing through the groups that were broadcasting and listened in for a short time to two: some people talking about how to get into voice acting and a different group talking about their favourite conspiracy theories.

At the moment, there are people using Clubhouse as a club, where anyone can come in and participate in the discussion and it’s like being in a literal clubhouse, with lots of talkover and confusion. Others are using it more as a broadcasting platform, where they are speaking or moderating.

And, also not surprising to me, the conversations happening on Clubhouse right now are highly dependent on who is running the room. Journalists are doing the best work. Celebrities leveraging their celebrity are exactly as entertaining (not) as you’d think they are.

It’s also being used for stunts, like Elon Musk holding an AMA session that ended up being a conversation with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev happened to show up in the room.

Clubhouse conversations aren’t recorded by the platform, but you can set up recording software if you want; Musk’s event was live streamed to YouTube.

But in browsing the rooms that are active, many of them are simply people using the platform to hustle. There are dozens of “how to make money” and “how to get famous” and “how to get famous and make money” rooms at any given time.

What Clubhouse isn’t currently great at is discovery. To find a group to listen in to or join you’ve got to scroll past an extensive list of clubs that are broadcasting, and many of them are in different languages.

It’s not unlike the early days of Twitter when you saw everything, but as you followed more people, your timeline became much more refined.

We’ll see where Clubhouse goes, but for now, I wouldn’t worry that you’re missing anything.

Galaxy Week brings sale prices to Samsung products

Until March 9 you can get a bunch of Samsung Galaxy products on sale with the Galaxy Week promotion.

Deals include $150 off a second Galaxy Watch3 when you purchase one, 50% off wireless earbuds, including Galaxy Buds Pro and Galaxy Buds+, when purchasing select handsets and wearables, and a pair of Galaxy Buds+ with the purchase of a Galaxy Note20 Ultra handset.

There’s also a one-day flash sale on March 9 that gets you a pair of Galaxy Buds Live with the purchase of a Galaxy S21 or Galaxy Note20 handset.

Playstation’s Play At Home returns with free games through the spring

Play At Home was Playstation’s pandemic promotion from last spring that gave PS4 owners the games Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey for free.

And it’s back.

Insomniac’s game, Ratchet & Clank, is available through March for free from the Playstation Store. It’s the 2016 PS4 reboot featuring the goofball duo.

It’s an aptly timed freebie as the next game in the franchise, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is due for release on PS5 in June.

The spring 2021 edition of Play At Home runs through June, so expect more free game fun from Playstation in the weeks ahead.

Blockbuster games coming to Nintendo Switch this spring and summer

The Nintendo Switch game console’s popularity is undeniable, and it’s why a bunch of games are making their way to the system in the coming months.

Apex Legends, the multiplayer online battle royale game, arrives on the Switch on March 9. The game, from Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts, is in Season 8 right now, and the free-to-play game is fully cross-platform.

A number of other titles were revealed to be coming to the Switch in a Nintendo Direct online event last month.

EA’s Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville is being released on the Switch on March 19. Players will be able to play offline, play with up to three friends, and play against each other in teams of eight.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, which is one of the biggest games of the pandemic and is currently exclusive to PS4, PS5, and Windows, is coming this summer.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which was the best game released on the Wii back in 2011, will be available on the Switch on July 16 in full HD. A pair of themed Joy-Con controllers are also being released.

Other titles coming to the Switch include No More Heroes 3, Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, Legend of Mana, and Mario Golf: Super Rush.

Also announced during the Nintendo Direct event was Splatoon 3, which is expected next year.

You can get the full rundown of the February 2021 Nintendo Direct directly below.