PlayStation Home v1.3 Coming Thursday + New Central Plaza, Neptune Suite and More! – UPDATE

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UPDATE: If you’re having trouble logging into Home, please follow these instructions.

We know that all of our Home-peoples have been waiting with bated breath for the newest version of PlayStation Home to launch. You’ve been messaging us on the official PlayStation Home forums and hitting us up in-world for all of the details. You’ve been leaving us comments on our Blog posts and on the official PlayStation Facebook and Twitter accounts. Some of you have even been chartering black helicopters and following us to and from our secret meetings, surveilling our every move, searching for evidence of the launch date. Well okay, maybe there hasn’t been so much of that, but you’ve been eager for info. And that’s why we’re all pumped to announce that PlayStation Home v1.3 will be coming to your PlayStation 3s this Thursday, October 1st.

For those of you who didn’t catch the official announcement of the client update in August, here’s the high-level overview. Home v1.3 equals the following things:

  • Universal Game Launching. Come this Thursday, 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 favorite games with ease. Never again will you have to sign out of Home to play with (or against) your friends. Simply insert the disc of your choice while in Home and follow the on screen directions.
  • 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. Heck, there are even new dances to hit the SingStar Rooms with.
  • 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. Dates for the camera and other items will be announced very soon, so stay tuned to this blog (and be sure to check the Latest Updates tab in your Menu Pad, under Community).
  • Tons of Improvements. We’ve added some new categories of clothing (composite and outfits) that will allow you to customize your avatar with greater ease. We’ve optimized the targeting system. We’ve fixed a bunch of the bugs you’ve been reporting on the official Home Support forum. We’re even giving you the option to determine your cache size (you can choose from 3, 5, 8, and 12 GB).

Going hand in hand with the v1.3 launch, we here at SCEA will be releasing an updated Central Plaza. We think you’ll find the new World Map Travel Center to be quite handy when it comes to navigating the vast, expansive world of PlayStation Home. This easy-to-use 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. On top of all this, we’ve added leaderboards and rewards to the ever-popular Saucer Pop mini-game and even placed 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 (in fact, if you check out this kiosk on launch day, you may just find some free items waiting for you). Watch the video below for a sneak peek of some of the new additions to CP.

We probably could’ve stopped there, but we wanted to get as much content to you to celebrate this momentous occasion as we possibly could. If you peep the video below you can get a first look at the new Neptune Suite personal space, also being released this Thursday. In this highly-interactive underwater abode, you can play a variety of built-in mini-games like the multi-player shooter Blast Zone. It even comes with its own pet that interacts with your avatar. And to top it all off, we’re even bringing the popular Hot Shots Golf game space over from Japan for all of you North American fans of this hugely popular franchise. Visit the space this Thursday, participate in our in-world survey, and walk away with a special prize.

See you in Home!

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327 Comments

  • Maybe this will respark a little interest in Home, as it has all but diminished.

  • Yay a home update. I might just install it now

  • Sa-WEET! :)

  • BRING US TVS AND STEREOS!

    Nice updtate!

  • This update looks great. Congrats to the Home team and Home community!

  • Will we ever get the SingStar trophy items here in North America or was that just false advertising?

  • just curious. i’ve never game launched from home but like say if you want to leave could you quit directly back to home without going through the XMB first.

  • I’m interested in the idea of items for Home being handed out as rewards for getting trophies in-game. Is there any word on that?

  • Cool and Thank You!!! Still waiting for our personal 3D Trophie rooms!! Nope i we haven’t forgotten ya know! Oh and more unlockable Home Rewards on PS3 titles, it could help sway people from buying the competition’s version ya know?

  • Thanks Locust, very awesome!

  • Group Photo-Op! :D

    This is some pretty great news! Are we out of the Home Beta yet? (Or is that just a big in-joke with you guys?) Still waiting on the in-Home media type stuff, but this is a good step forward. Keep up the great work- I’ll stop by next time I have a chance.

  • Great Update ;)

    Any news on the Fortune Hunters Competition coming to playstation home ?

    Also, when will the UK see this update ?

  • i didnt really get to read all the AWESOME UPDATES but if there is NO VOICE CHAT OPTIONS im not going to be VERY IMPRESSED..im sure im nothte only one who is gettin anoyed with all the typing..when i own a OFFICIAL PLAYSTATION HEADSET! cummon SONY make this wish come tru..OPEN CHAT!! it was done before it should be done again! but with a mute option or something..:p

  • I guess this is good news, well at least for the people who actually like home. I’ve deleted home a long time ago :)

  • Nice update! But when are we going to get TVs and stereos so we can play files off our HDD in Home? Also why are picture frames so expensive? You should get at least one for free.

  • Big business baby!

  • Cool stuff, hopefully you guys bring us stuff to do at our own spaces besides chatting… like a pool table or hockey table? :)

  • Yeah I deleted this piece of garbage also. No voice chat killed Home for many of my friends and no addition of a party chat sucks also.

  • Awesome, can’t wait :D

  • Home Makeover.

    Home Again.

    Home is where the heart is.

    Home Sweet Home!

  • we want trophy room and video uploading on your tv home

  • Will we ever get the trophy room space? I wonder what the technical problem is with implementing this. I wouldn’t mind if it only shows platinum trophies only (which I don’t have, but I would give me incentive to try to get one).

  • sorry bout the helicopter thing guys, but you understand right? i wanted to know:D

    Can’t wait for tomorrow, it’s gonna be a psn shopping spree for me between home and my psp go

  • Home is too restricted, i have more fun communicating with peds in GTA. lol

  • Finally >_>

  • Very important question: Does a higher cache mean faster loading times between home spaces and for avatars/icons? If so, you should really spell that out in your post because that seems like a HUGE improvement for home’s usability. If not… what does it improve?

  • Sweet, I’ve been looking forward to this update and it looks great, thanks Locust and Sydonia!!! :D

  • I for 1 im happy to see dolphin in home,.. thas a kool point right there. I for another love the idea of the saucer pop turney and prizes,, I put up 25 thousand points b now it ven more worth it to go all night in sc pop… Im glad your brng the big update to us in time for pspgo, that was a good plan .. who ever thought of it shol be giving a gold plaque and a raise.. Ty lucust and c yd for all you guys do..
    Ps.. i know you guy held back lol all didnt want to cause many heart attacks lol.. l8r

  • looks amazing

  • stop charging us for virtual clothing. i’ll never buy a virtual shirt with my real money!

  • Trophy room was promissed befor home even launched it should be #1 on your list of things to get done I could care less aboutvother rooms to visit there’s allready so much todo why would anyone want to visit my “HOME” isn’t that the opposite of what you wanted to do

  • i have Question is GTA4 gonna be able to let me launch into it through pshome istead of having to sign out ps home and go to gta4? to play it and meet my friends and stuff? does this mean i can play with my friends on burnout from launching from ps home? or even any other games i may like to play

  • Sweet Update! Been waiting on this.

  • nice..finally!!! =)

  • Well the Neptune sweet is a must buy for everyone. And does that dance floor light up? OMG!!! u guys are hearing the cries of the community loud and clear. All the best ideas the community has are slowly making their way to Home and it couldn’t be sweeter. ThanX!!!

  • Thats cool an all but are we going to lose any items that we currently own? I remember owning different items before another update and lost them. This was long ago though.

  • Are we getting Voice Chatting back in all rooms?

    Just give users an option to turn it off for those who done’t want to hear people talking!

    Please bring this back!!!

  • WHERE IS THE TROPHY ROOM ?THAT ALL I WANT .

  • Can you launch into Socom Confrontation from HOME? Thanks!

  • Great, but Home needs to be more integrated with the rest of the PS3 and it needs to load faster.

  • Will Europe have this update as well or will we have to wait our turn?

  • Are there any plans to support game launching with PSN titles as well?

    Does this contain a fix for the awful looking shadow effects?

  • is golf coming tomorrow :S that part confused me

  • About Time!!!!!!

  • Yay awesome! now all we need is that trophy room. Any updates on that space?

  • sounds cool but how does it play? No In game music for XMB is a hugh let down. And I really could care less about clothes. And how they think that is more important than music is beyond me? :(

  • B-RadGfromOV: “Maybe this will respark a little interest in Home, as it has all but diminished.”

    Wow! What a total F-ing idiot!

    You just gotta laugh at the moronic trolls still trying to trash the incredible success of Home with over 8 million users already.

    Go away B-RadGfromOV. No one wants losers like you trolling this site.

  • Thanks for the heads up Locust_Star.

    Been waiting for this since you announced it.

    I saw you had posted a note on Home that you had a few QA problems.

    Keep up the great work…loving Home so far.

  • Sweet! Can’t wait!!

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