Hulu: 'Playstation Plus service is only a requirement during the preview period'

by Christopher Grant on Jul 6th 2010 2:33PM

Last week, Hulu's own webpage said "you must be a subscriber of the Playstation Plus Network" in order to access the subscription-based Hulu Plus service, and neither Hulu nor Sony were willing to clarify that requirement with Joystiq. This week, we've confirmed with Hulu that it's emailing customers a statement to address the "rumors" and "remedy the situation." We'll cut to the chase: "The Playstation Plus service is only a requirement during the preview period," according to Hulu.

That means that during the Hulu Plus preview period, you need to be a member of PlayStation Plus to access the service on your PS3; however, with Hulu Plus currently in its "preview period" and "launching to the public very soon" and the PS3 app nowhere to be found for PlayStation Plus subscribers, it's not clear how many potential users there will be on the PS3 before it goes public. Full statement from Hulu after the break.

With the launch of Hulu Plus there have been many rumors started and we are trying our best to remedy the situation. Specifically to your question, the Playstation Plus service is only a requirement during the preview period.

Once the preview period ends you should be able to download the Hulu Plus app but that will still require the Hulu Plus subscription.

Right now we are limiting the number of users but Hulu Plus will be launching to the public very soon so stay tuned!

Tags: Hulu, Hulu-Plus, playstation, PlayStation-Plus, ps3

Reader Comments (52)

This makes much more sense now. lol, better than the Plus exclusive we all were thinking it was going to be. Much more worthwhile.

@ZexionArmando

Agreed

@ZexionArmando
good. at least sony isn't following in MS footsteps w/ another bad decision. ive never understood MS nor their justification for XBL on some features. People pay for netflix, and hulu, but they also have to pay for XBL to be able to view the stuff they normally pay for? If sony would have done this, well....i just woulda been mad.

@simbadogg
I agree with that. When you're already paying for a service you shouldn't have to pay for another, totally unrelated, service. Especially when both Sony and Nintendo let you watch netflix without any catches.

It's one of the few major issues I have with XBL and why I simply won't use it due to principle of the matter.

Yes, I'm that lonely.

@ZexionArmando Agreed and once again props to Sony.. They could have pulled a real d**k move here and only allowed ps + usage, instead they give first access to ps + users and roll out to everyone over time.

This is the way to do it, its the way to keep your fan base happy with you..

Considering the most popular post on Jostiq has been:

Hulu page: Hulu Plus on PS3 will require PlayStation Plus

Kind of happy Sony have taken the right path the least greedy, but the more respectable route. Its moves like this that builds respect.

The only thing is its a shame hulu is only available in the states I have to use an open proxy to access it , which makes this completely pointless for me either way.

@McDuckScrooged

"instead they give first access to ps + users and roll out to everyone over time. This is the way to do it"

Yet people rag on MS incessantly not for removing demos for silver members, but for giving them to gold members first.

Hulu will still block me due to where I live. How about expanding that first? They've been at "trying to make stuff available worldwide" for years now...

@(Unverified)

Licensing is hard in case you didn't know.

@(Unverified)

Especially hard when the users were not paying, now they got a pay service - maybe it will be expanded... faster

Huzzah! I think. Do I care? Honestly, I don't know. I'm definitely glad you don't have to pay for one subscription service in order to use another subscription service, though. That would just be dumb. But Hulu Plus...worth it?

@sigma8
And to add to that; Playstation Plus... worth it?

@sigma8 The answer to to that is: "It depends". If it has enough the shows you like. then, yeah.

For me, it's not worth it. They still restrict it to only "approved devices." they restrict it by location. (if you're overseas or abroad, you're not watching anything.) And they still insert commercials into the program. (30sec isn't too bad IMO.)

Most importantly, it's about the shows. If they don't get a steady stream of new shows then, this is going to fail. I'm miffed that Comedy Central pulled out, so no new Futurama episodes :-(

@deathalo101 Oh. Right. I was getting to that. I was going to ask that one right after "Do I want gremlins to tear my fingernails off?"

@rduran So if you pay, is it 30 seconds total? or 30 seconds per commercial? ABC does, I think, 15, 20, and 30 second commercials for free at various points in their programs. And that's free.

@WINterfang Didn't they advertise that they were pure evil and wanted to suck our brains out? Alec Baldwin is funny.

So this is like one of the betas we'll get access to via PSN+?

Even less incentive to pay for PSN+.

@likedamaster and ?? are you an idiot ? would you really like this to be a ps+ only exclusive ? Seriously , your what is wrong with this world..

@WINterfang sounds more like they're indecisive, not racist.

I'm going to be watching this closely. I signed up for the preview/beta and am a a PSN Plus subscriber, yet I haven't received any news about this yet.

Here's hoping we get this "preview" with this week's PSN update. Heck, I'd be happy with a full, public explanation of what the heck is going on from Hulu and Sony.

Just saying what, exactly? That for a fraction of the cost, you get a fraction of the service?

PARADIGM SHIFT.

huh, so just to get this straight. Hulu Plus will just require its own subscription but only at preview you need PS+ subscription.

Pretty much less of a reason to get PS+.

@shadowhowl1900 which can only be a good thing right ?

Seriously would you prefer this to be a psn+ exclusive, to force you to buy psn+ ?? Wouldn't you class that a d*ck move ?

who cares!!!!!! Im not paying for something thats free on my mac. 10 bucks is too much for free tv

@(Unverified)

I think you need to trade in some of those exclamation points for some more useful punctuation.

@(Unverified)

How is it free on your Mac?

@(Unverified) You don't understand why the plus is there do you?

@(Unverified)
I'd figure as a mac owner, you'd be accustomed to throwing more money than necessary at things.

Still not in Canada anyway. I'll just stick to free stuff zzzzzz

If you own a PC, Download TVersity. Run it on your PC. Search for media servers on your PS3. Watch Hulu on your PS3 for Free. Send me the ten bucks a month I just saved you.

@moclamD

Ok, but then you would be getting Hulu, not Hulu Plus.

Interesting...........
It sucks tho that i bought PS+ because 2 days later my account got banned because of my PSN name. I've had the name for 3 1/2 years i'm sooo angry.

@Mika101 So you have a new name now, right? what was the old one?

This is golden. What was the name?

My old name was/is MILFmeister85. I haven't figured out a new one yet. I don't want to lose my trophies and my save files :(

@Mika101 Did you get any sort of refund? I don't suppose you did though.

@tenacioustoaster no refund. I just called Sony they switched my name so i can keep everything but now all the games that i play online are all screwed up instead of having my new name it has this crazy long name with a lot of numbers. And the person on the phone said I would lose only a couple of trophies so in my head i thought oh so ill only lose say 10 but no i lose every trophy all 1000+ of them and 14 Plat. i'm not a happy camper right now.

This could be looked at as an "early access" for PS+ members I suppose.....still going to need to be gold for it on 360...

I don't care either way as I still don't see a benefit of Hulu+ while I have a DVR and the knowledge of how to get the same shows via EZTV.it

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

1. It's convenient. Torrents are not convenient.
2. You can watch shows on the iPhone and iPad.
3. It's legal. Torrents are not legal.
4. DVR requires planning and management of HD space.

In the end, it's just a luxury item. It's not the only way to get this media.

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

Torrents are simple enough to me....

And as for them being illegal, the way i see it they are of TV shows that are on free OTA TV....i could easily setup my computer to record the shows DRM free and have the shows on any DLNA device in my house....and even my PSP and iPhone while on the road....i simply dont have the funds to currently build my server to the 20TB capacity that i want for it to do so right now.....

But yea it is a luxury....a pointless one....would be a lot more beneficial if it had Cable networks on it

@Kodros

"1. It's convenient. Torrents are not convenient.
2. You can watch shows on the iPhone and iPad.
3. It's legal. Torrents are not legal.
4. DVR requires planning and management of HD space."

1) Find good seed/leech ratio, point and click.
2) You can also watch shows on almost anything that has a screen.
3) Torrents ARE legal. The copyrighted content it *may* contain isn't. (Windows Vista & 7 betas used P2P technology)
4) So does your computer.

Lol sounds like Sony wasn't going to say anything to get more + subs, but Hulu realized they would loose subs if people thought it required PS+ as well.

Good Job Hulu :)

i have cable, not paying for TV twice...i don't know what it is, but i hope Hulu plus fails miserably. just saying...

@(Unverified)

You are the dumbest person alive.

@(Unverified) I don't know who you are but I hope you fail miserably.
Wait, no I don't because I'm only a little bit of a jerk.

@Architecture Of course, that depends on what fraction you're talking about. Hulu doesn't require my equipment to function while the program airs. In fact, I can turn my equipment -off- most of the time and just turn it on to watch the show. That's quite a bit better than a DVR service that may or may not record the show properly on any given day. (Yes, this is experience speaking.)

Torrents are simple enough to me....

And as for them being illegal, the way i see it they are of TV shows that are on free OTA TV....i could easily setup my computer to record the shows DRM free and have the shows on any DLNA device in my house....and even my PSP and iPhone while on the road....i simply dont have the funds to currently build my server to the 20TB capacity that i want for it to do so right now.....

But yea it is a luxury....a pointless one....would be a lot more beneficial if it had Cable networks on it

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

I use torrent s LOT for TV shows, but only because of how awesome it is to get 720p w/ (kinda worthless) 5.1 sound. I heard Hulu Plus is going to have 720p for shows, so I'll try and check out the preview to see if it works okay so I don't have to constantly download stuff.

I'm still with you on how simple it is to get a show via torrent, though. Not only that, but quickly converting that torrent to an mpeg file and copying it to my PS3 so I can re-watch my favorite parts without any effort is great - Hulu Plus will have to do a lot to convince me to stop downloading my favorites, that's for sure.

Well, that settles it. I figured Sony wouldn't pull a "MS" and have some stipulation for Hulu.

I do believe that PS+ subscribers will have the native Netflix App on their system this holiday while the others PSN users will still use the disc.

So the preview is free?

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Hulu: 'Playstation Plus service is only a requirement during the preview period'

Reader Comments (52)

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:34PM ZexionArmando said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:39PM mairondil said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:15PM simbadogg said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:55PM Mmmmz said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 4:34PM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 10:32PM Vcize said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:39PM Lagunamov said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:23PM 831 Son said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:12PM Faenix said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:42PM sigma8 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:50PM deathalo101 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:01PM rduran said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:11PM sigma8 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:29PM sigma8 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:43PM sigma8 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:45PM Zetro said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:46PM likedamaster said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 4:37PM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:50PM ranhalt said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 2:53PM GumbyX said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:00PM Architecture said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:06PM shadowhowl1900 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 4:44PM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:07PM Drdre74 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:30PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:34PM Kodros said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 4:38PM tenacioustoaster said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 11:24PM Otimus said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:11PM C1 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:13PM moclamD said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:57PM Kodros said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:14PM Mika101 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:30PM sigma8 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:31PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:49PM Mika101 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 4:40PM tenacioustoaster said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 5:25PM Mika101 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:35PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:52PM Kodros said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 4:13PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 5:33PM BlazeKing said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:40PM Mofetti said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:45PM Modok said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:53PM Kodros said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 4:41PM tenacioustoaster said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 3:47PM WC said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 4:11PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 5:56PM Nobledevil Gaming Optimist said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 5:05PM MLC said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:00PM Falcon said

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