For the early subscribers to PlayStation Plus who aren%26rsquo;t quite satisfied with the discounts on games no one wants and free premium themes that no one pays for anyway, there is finally something of substance being offered to the premium PS3 online service: Hulu Plus. However, there are about a million strings attached.
Sony announced over on itsofficial blogthat effective today, users who have purchased a PlayStation Plus subscription will find a free Hulu Plus app available to download in the PlayStation Store.
Don%26rsquo;t be fooled, though. Having a PlayStation Plus account is just the first step in the challenge for the elusive opportunity of being able to give money to Hulu. See, the PS3 Hulu Plus app only gives users a %26ldquo;preview%26rdquo; of Hulu Plus, just like the apps already available on the iPhone, iPad, and Samsung TV. From the app, users can request an invitation to have full access to the service, but there%26rsquo;s no word on when invitations will actually start being fulfilled. That being said, %26ldquo;a select group of PlayStation Plus subscribers%26rdquo; will also get an %26ldquo;exclusive preview%26rdquo; to Hulu Plus immediately. All in all, it%26rsquo;s still pretty exclusive; like, as in it%26rsquo;s easier to sneak into the White Housethan it is to get a Hulu Plus account at this point.
Regardless, it does officially stamp the PS3 as the first gaming console with Hulu Plus compatibility. The Xbox 360 is not due to receive the service until the spring of 2011, despite having a larger installed base. The 360 was the first to get Netflix streaming access, and it took several months for the PS3 and Wii to get similar functionality.
It looks like Sony turned the tables on Microsoft this time. I wonder if there was some back-room brokering going on? *cough* It seems like a timed exclusive kind of deal, especially since Hulu is working hard to get the service on a whole bunch of other devices by the end of the year. Incidentally, there are no current plans to bring Hulu Plus to the Wii.
Jul 15, 2010
