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Sony Computer Entertainment has announced the release of PlayStation Home v1.3, bringing a host of new features and functionality to the PS3 virtual world.
Home v1.3 features:
Universal Game Launching: You’ll be able to launch from Home into any game whose disc you have loaded into your PS3. This is how it works: Titles that fully support game launching (like Street Fighter IV, Resistance 2, MotorStorm, and Far Cry 2) will be identified by separate icons that appear over an avatar’s head and will have varying degrees of additional multiplayer functionality built in. Simplified game launching will take you from Home to the start menu of your game.
In-Store Item Previewing: This feature will allow you to preview items of clothing on your character in 3D (including the ability to check out multiple items simultaneously to see what combinations best suit your taste). You’ll be able to preview all furniture in 3D as well, complete with zoom and rotate options so you can check your potential purchases from all angles.
New Emotes and Actions: You can flip a coin with your friends to decide whose apartment to retreat to, or play the old “pick a number between 1 and 100” game to decide who is hosting the next party in Central Plaza. You will also be able to pose your avatar in a variety of ways, adding significantly to your ability to express yourself in-world. There are also new dances.
More Item Types: Including limited use items (like the brand new Shrink Cake that lets you shrink your avatar to a tiny size) and portable objects (think: Bubble Machine). These will be available shortly after the launch of the client. This list of objects includes a free camera that you can use to snap pictures from either a 1st or 3rd person view. The photos will automatically be saved to the Photo section of the XMB, from which you can then upload to the picture frames you have hanging in your personal spaces. Release dates for the camera and other items will be announced very soon.
Tons of Improvements: New categories of clothing (composite and outfits) that will allow you to customise your avatar with greater ease. The targeting system has been optimised and host of bugs have been fixed. It will also be possible to choose your cache size (3, 5, 8, and 12 GB).
Home v1.3 will also see the release of an updated Central Plaza featuring a new World Map Travel Centre making it easier to navigate around Home. This new tool will be located right next to the new and improved Listen@Home kiosk, where you can listen to music and participate in community music events.
There’s also new leaderboards and rewards to the popular Saucer Pop mini-game and a kiosk in Central Plaza from which you can grab prizes associated with events and a host of other items and content available from the PlayStation Network (free items will be available today).
There’s even more new stuff that we haven’t detailed here, including videos showing off the new content, over on the PlayStation Blog.
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