Hulu+ Arrives on XBOX Live Today! Hooray or Meh?

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Hulu+ is available on your Mac or PC, your set top box such as the Roku we have (but alas not Apple TV), your iPhone or iPad, and your Playstation 3. With the computer devices you can use the ‘standard version’ for free but gain much greater access to programming with the $7.99 monthly fee. On other systems you need to have a ‘Hulu+’ account to access anything – though you can get a trial account on most systems. Now you can finally catch up on those episodes of Glee on your XBOX 360!

Some background on Hulu:

Hulu’s ambitious and never-ending mission is to help you find and enjoy the world’s premium content when, where and how you want it. We hope to provide you with the web’s most comprehensive selection of premium programming across all genres and formats – television shows, feature films, clips, and more.

At Hulu, you’ll find a vast selection of premium programming across all genres and content types including hit shows, movies, clips and more. Hulu offers current primetime shows like The Office, Prison Break, Bionic Woman, House and Bones, and episodes from TV classics like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Miami Vice, Arrested Development and more. We’ve also partnered with premier content owners like E! Entertainment, FUEL TV, SciFi Network and USA Networks to add to our growing collection of premium programming.

From now until May 6th all XBOX 360 owners with any XBLA account, either Silver (free) or Gold ($60 a year) can get Hulu+. On the 6th the Hulu+ service will be locked out to only Gold members.

Yes this means you need to be paying Microsoft $60 a year to be able to pay Hulu $8 per month! But don’t fret, that is the same onerous plan you get with Netflix on the XBLA!

Until last week the common refrain from PS3 users was ‘hey, we can access Netflix without paying an added fee, and we have Hulu!’. This week … not so much.

But based on early impressions at various sites and my own quick check on my son’s XBOX 360, it is hard to say this was ‘worth the wait’. The implementation feels much more limited than any other system, the controls are wonky, and rather than a real free trial … you get this week. For something so much later to arrive, not very impressive. However, from what I hear the same is true for the XBLA Netflix implementation.

Well, if you have an XBOX 360 and an XBLA account, I suggest you check it out and ad your thoughts in the comments!

Source: Yahoo! Tech News

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!