When we announced the PlayStation Rewards program, we promised that it would continually be evolving. We have heard your feedback and today are excited to announce the addition of Quests to the program, which provide yet another fun way for members to participate and earn progress. Quests are PlayStation-related activities that you can complete to directly add to your progress meter.

For example, with Quests, users will earn progress for playing an eligible PlayStation Move game in the “Move It” quest, for watching PlayStation Network’s PULSE in HD on their PS3 system in the “Check Your Pulse” quest, or for visiting the Central Plaza in PlayStation Home in the “No Place Like Home” quest. Nine Quests will be released in the beta by tomorrow, and we’ll be adding crafty new quests throughout the year for your enjoyment.

We hope those of you in the program are enjoying it so far. PlayStation Rewards was made to recognize and reward members for doing the things they love – interacting with and experiencing the entertainment that PlayStation offers. As users play games, check out PlayStation Network’s original programming, review games and explore PlayStation Home, they will earn progress toward the program’s three tiers – Select, Pro and Legendary status. In addition, members of PlayStation Rewards will be eligible to win exclusive prizes and collectible memorabilia throughout the year.

When the PlayStation Rewards program becomes available to everyone in April next year, be sure to check out Quests as a fun way to get involved with all the things you love to do with PlayStation.

PlayStation Gamer Advisory Panel members Colin and Trina are veteran E3 correspondents, and this year (like always) they’re in top form. Check out their video segments on PlayStation.com.

Here’s their recap on what the experience meant to them:

Trina

It’s Friday and I’m back at the office, missing E3 already. The running around, the intense passion, and the small meeting room are all just a memory now. Before E3 started I made a promise to myself to act professional, to not act like a fan girl. But when you meet so many amazing people, and talk about something that you are so passionate about every day, how do you not geek out? It was an amazing week, but there are some highlights that make my inner fan girl happy.

Interviewing Alex Evans about LittleBigPlanet and discussing the excitement for the upcoming release of the title was definitely a great moment. He is extremely nice and very curious about where people will take LittleBigPlanet. I spent about fifteen minutes talking with the guys responsible for PlayStation Home, learning about the decision process around the Home service. The team definitely wants Home to be a constant evolving space which is very exciting. The girl power moment came from my interview with Deborah Mars from PixelJunk Eden. We spoke about women in the gaming industry and our experiences as a female gamer.

I loved every moment. Even when my feet were tired or I couldn’t think of a question to ask. I’ll never forget how to hold a mic or how to sign off. Being on camera is hard work, but it’s so much fun because of the amazing group of people that made it all possible. From the bottom of this girl gamer’s heart, I thank you all. It’s hard to put in words how much I love you all and appreciate this amazing opportunity. So instead, I’ll just say, when can we do this again?

*hugs*
-Trina
GamingAngel

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Colin

Trina and I have attended E3 through the Gamer Advisory Panel since 2006, the year of the final large-scale E3. That means we got to experience the grandeur followed by 2007′s restructuring that seemed like a blip on the radar. Now that E3 is back at the L.A. Convention Center, it felt closer to what the public views it as: Something to look forward to.

I think that people make games because they want something they and the public can enjoy, and there’s money to be made in that. E3 is a place where developers have that opportunity to show their peers and fans what’s in the works, and the response to their labor is what’s going to inspire them to put extra effort into the games. Developers and publishers take that feeling with them until the next year, and that’s what makes having a proper E3 so important.

This year, I’m proud to say that E3 is taking steps in the right direction to make E3 feel like a “red carpet” event for games and their developers once again. I was a G.A.P. kid in a candy store seeing the newest games being announced and running into developers of the biggest games I love. This year felt great. But don’t stop, E3. It’s not just about the people and press who attend, it’s about those starry-eyed kids waiting to feel like they’re a part of the majesty, too.

All we ask is you dazzle us.
- Colin

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Thanks Colin and Trina, and we hope you’ve enjoyed their E3 reports… they’ve worked hard! Check out their video segments as we add them over the next couple days on PlayStation.com.

The PlayStation Underground is the community of PlayStation fans you join by creating an account on PlayStation.com or by registering a PlayStation product. As an Underground member, you can participate in community forums and manage your account on PlayStation.com. Underground members are also kept “in the know” about new games, hardware, events and contests—so you can maximize your PlayStation experience.

Linking your IDs is a new feature on PlayStation.com that allows you to make the connection between your Underground ID on PlayStation.com, and your PLAYSTATION Network ID that you use for online gaming. So, for example, the people you play with online (using your PSN ID) will be able to read the forum posts you’ve made on PlayStation.com (using your Underground ID) and see that you are the same person. Once you’re linked up you’ll also receive a PSN ID graphic including your Avatar and “About Me” Message that has been made portable for the Web.

Having an ID that you can post on your favorite social networking sites and gaming communities allows you to amp up your visibility throughout the PlayStation universe. You can use your beloved (or feared) PSN ID wherever you go on the web and everyone from your buddies on your Friend List to newbie gaming challengers will know you by your PSN ID. For complete details, go here and read all about it. From there, it’s pretty easy to get started linking up.

This is just one of the many opportunities we try to give our fans to get involved with the PlayStation magic. You might remember such entries as “Cod of War” that made it into God of War II, courtesy of one of your dedicated Gamer Advisory Panel members, “chickenmeister.” In Folklore’s case, we ran a contest a few months ago with Underground members to see who could create a Folk worthy of being added to the game. Many entries were judged by the dev team and today we’re proud to bring you a new Folk for your collection, named Quasarilli. We hope all of you will get to enjoy Uridicy’s creation and that one day you might see one of your own designs become video game reality.

Here’s what Uridicy had to say about being the creator of the winning Folk:

Art and games have always been a hobby of mine and as an aspiring game artist it is very exciting for me to see a professional 3D model of my creature Quasarilli. I’ve worked on a few Unreal Tournament mods as a texture artist/modeler to develop on my skills as an artist so this is a real encouragement to me. When thinking of what kind of creature to make, I tried to incorporate some tribal elements with the mask like face, feathers, and horns. Of course, even the coolest looking character needs to useful, or the player isn’t going to want to get him. I tried to think of what skills I would want in a Folk other than just brute strength. Since I usually spend a lot of time in most games going after various items, I thought stealing items occasionally might be a nice skill. It’ll be interesting hearing what different people think about my Folk, Quasarilli.

Overall, my favorite thing about Folklore is all the different environments. The game seems to have a unique darker fantasy feeling than the typical fantasy-RPG games I normally play, and the story about Ellen’s mom was very touching. I look forward to going up against my Quasarilli and I hope other people have fun with it too.