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PS Home gets game launching today

US launch of version 1.3 confirmed.

PlayStation Home is updated to version 1.3 today, with the headline change being the addition of universal game launching to the PS3's virtual social space.

That's according to the US PlayStation blog. As yet there has been no similar announcement from Sony regarding Europe, but at time of writing, European Home servers are down for an extended maintenance, so we remain hopeful that the update is being applied here too.

Universal game launching means you can jump straight to the start menu of any PS3 game without logging out of Home, simply by slipping the disc in. Titles that already fully support game launching with additional multiplayer functionality - such as Street Fighter IV or Resistance 2 - are identified by icons over avatars' heads.

Other new features of version 1.3 include in-store item previews, new emotes, new item types, and various interface improvements and bug fixes. American Home users also get an updated central plaza and some other new content, although this is less likely to apply to Europe too.