Hulu Plus on PS3, hands-on (update: video)
By Sean Hollister 
posted July 14th 2010 7:23PM
posted July 14th 2010 7:23PM
After a 28MB download, we were invited to either log in with an email/password combination or link our console at Hulu's website, both of which launched the program nigh instantly from the hard drive. The interface afterwards is a dead-ringer for the Samsung TV version, except optimized for console control, with the analog stick and shoulder buttons smartly seeking through programs at high speed, or tapped to jump ahead in fifteen-second increments. You can similarly adjust video quality (and thus, bandwidth usage) with a press of the R1 button, watch picture-in-picture programs while you browse, and the search function admirably narrows down Hulu's content as quickly as you can type the letters in. It does have its bugs, like when we tried to watch High Fidelity and were asked if we wanted to subscribe to the show, and there was the time we got caught in an unending advertising loop for body wash, but that time we think the app was just trying to tell us something. Yeah, we'd better run out to the store, but don't go away -- hit the gallery below for a brief tour.
Update: Our friends at Joystiq have a video walkthrough; check it after the break!
Most of people that are commenting on this have no idea what they are talking about.
1. You do not need PSN+ for Hulu +, only for PREVIEW period you need PSN+
2. So point 1 takes me to point 2, it will only cost you $9.99 and if they add enough content you can kiss your cable goodbye
3. So point 2 takes me to point 3, oh I didn't know you get your cable for FREE, oops wait you actually have to pay them well then why not GET HULU+ on PS3 once Preview period is over and you don't need PSN+ and when HULU has more content.
EPIC WIN, love it, like it, will get it if they add more content.
P.S. Sure Netflix is great and I would know it since I do have it, but it is not free and it doesn't have latest Episodes for latest shows.
@jkudlacz im with you but they need to get rid of commercials if you are paying. Shit ill even pay an extra buck to get rid of commercials.
@jkudlacz and has no commercials. and has very high bandwidth availability and the highest streaming HD quality you have seen online.
Hulu is playing catch up.
@WestindiesKing I agree there needs to be a more expensive version commercial free, but for the cheapos like me, I dont mind a 30 secs comercial here and there.
Gives me enough time to go get another drink or make a sandwich
ummm my 10 bucks should get rid of commercials, this is lame. They should offer some type of discount for the PS3 Plus account members too. like 2 bucks off. They give me that and no commercials and i might sign up for both.
@WestindiesKing
$70+ doesn't get rid of commercials on cable, and you're stuck with at least a minute of non-stop commercials there. In my experience with Hulu you only see maybe two commercials at most during each break. Sometimes there's just one commercial at the beginning and that's it. I think Hulu comes out ahead.
@Dafrety DVR! = Zero commercials.
@iPaul doesn't a DVR cost $9.95 or more extra month for just one tv? :)
@bxbailey you don't need to pay for it. they will give it to you.
Viddler sucks. Movie not loading. Crashing their crappy servers.
will I pay $10 a month for the privilege of Hulu selling me advertising. WTF! No way. Hulu scrap the ad service and I will play with it for a few hours to see if it fits my requirements.
@iPaul Fan your argument is dumb...cable/satellite costs WAY more and has WAY more ads. You get 1 minute of ads for every 30 mins of content on Hulu, you get 7 minutes of ads for every 30 mins on cable/satellite....and Hulu has all the back catalogs and HD, you don't see that on cable/satellite.
@tlogank DVR shmuck
@iPaul another illogical comment...the ads are still there. I bet you spend 30 seconds just skipping the ads anyway. Plus like I said, you're paying WAY more. Just that DVR service alone costs the same as Hulu Plus, that's not even counting your HD and service itself. Want to keep going?
@tlogank and yet Hulu charges you $10 for free OTA broadcast shows. those entire channels are included for about 0.20c a month ea on cable.
you pay for the sports on cable and sat.
@tlogank you also forget you pay for an internet connection and cannot save any shows, you have ZERO offline content. you wanna pay for for FREE OTA , without any DVR features, ya nuts.
@tlogank my HD is Free , DVR is Free thanks for asking
If someone gets HULU+ on PS3 can they post the bandwidth options.
I get over well 5.5Mbps with Netflix.The quality is unbeatable so far.
there is an image of SD video options @ 1Mbps or 650Kbps what are the HD options?
I think I'm done with cable tv. With playon.tv you can add other networks. Playon cost me a one time fee of 30 bucks and work on all three game consoles. I like hulu plus cause you can minimize the picture and queue up stuff to watch. It deffinetly writhe 50 a year when I pay 60 bucks for cable tv and hulu+ has everything that I watch on cable tv on it.
@bjpatty23
Playon = win.
@bjpatty23 PlayOn is fine, but you don't get HD anything (Hulu or Netflix), and you have to have a descent computer to run it on.
AHHHHH. So this is why sony discontinued support for sites like MEGAVIDEO with their last 3.4 patch.
Makes perfect sense now. As of June 29th. I can't play megavideo videos using ps3. I only get the sound but no video. Google it, this is happening to pretty much everyone. I paid $ 20 bucks for a 3 month subscription to megavideo that i can no longer use on my ps3 because sony is crooked as hell and they are constantly taking away features that they are now figuring out they can partner with other companies and turn profits off of. I'm surprised engadget doesnt have an article on this as they do with skype v fring.
its the same thing.
As of the NEtflix and Hulu updates YOUR PS3'S CA NO LONGER PLAY MEGAVIDEO VIDEOS.
SONY. another company im going to dump. I hate xbox, but here i come anyway
@Stone632 Aren't megavideo and torrents in the legally grey area?
@Stone632 totally agree with you. PS3 may become a large paperweight.
@Stone632 yea...good luck watching those sites on the XBox.
@tlogank i will stick with a home built htpc
@tlogank yes because eeeeveryone likes surfing the web on their GAMING console...
-APPLE+XBOX FTW /:DDD
@pufflye says you
Hulu is nothing but a bunch of company that plays commercials and ADS which I don't need on a website. They put commercials on their sites. I will not be getting HULU for my PS3. It's a waist a money why use HULU when you can use YOUTUBE?
@Inspector Gadget80 go fine me all the season of Arrested Development, House, 24, The Office, etc. on YouTube and make them easily accessible with my remote please. Oh yes, and get them in HD with surround sound, too please.
I browsed around Hulu+. There is not much on there currently. Doesn't have a lot of my favorite shows, and also it does not have older seasons of most stuffs.
$10 does not worth it considered that you can get it for FREE on PC and you can STREAM from your PC anyway.. FASTER TOO!!
I fu*king hope Hulu+ fail - but there will always be people who are dumb enough to pay for it, I was one of them. Just unsubscribed, fu
*king pain in the ass to do as well.
OR... hear me out here... I can buy a 10 dollar HDMI cable (assuming I don't already have 2 of them behind my desk right now) and watch hulu for free. Not having commercials and getting better quality doesn't quite seem worth 10 dollars a month... close, but not quite
Such a shame that Hulu specifically locks out the PS3 when it previous functioned without problems through the PS3 browser. Yes, this is a dedicated app with the greater backlog or whatever Hulu Plus is supposed to offer, but it still hurts that they've removed the option of choice to simply use the normal, free version of the site.
When will netflix work like this without requiring the blu-ray?
PS3!!! All Day Everyday!
"The interface afterwards is a dead-ringer for the Samsung TV version, except optimized for console control, with the analog stick and shoulder buttons smartly seeking through programs at high speed, or tapped to jump ahead in fifteen-second increments."
Boo on you.. my Samsung TV remote is amazing.. I bet I could whoop your ass using my Samsung TV Remote in Street fighter 4...Zangif would be king.
commercials? WHY would u pay a monthly fee and still get commercials? looks like Netflix still takes the cake on this one
That UI looks pretty good.
Only if Cable or Satellite VOD interfaces were that nice and fluid. I'd like to see Hulu Plus come to the Dish 922 DVR as an application.
This is really nice, I am getting it as soon as it comes out. $10 bucks is a great deal. I already drop my cable bill. This, Netflix, and Basic/Limited cable will give me lots of stuff to choose from.
Netflix 5.5Mpbs +++
http://www.pcworld.com/article/201216
/hands_on_hulu_opens_doors_early_to_ps3_users.html?tk=hp_new
Hulu HD - 'Bringing up a high-def clip from Grey's Anatomy, on the other hand, provided the option to switch between HD at either 3.2 MB/s or 2.5 Mb/s in addition to the slower SD options. The quality difference between 650 kb/s and 3.2 MB/s was pretty dramatic, as expected. '
Hey people....
Instead of crying over which is better Netflix or Hulu - why don't you look at it in a better way. Let me spell it out. Netflix + Hulu > Cable.
Netflix and Hulu each have their own faults but they're complimentary to each other.
For example, Netflix doesn't get episodes right away. You have to wait for the entire season to finish up, at least for most shows. Hulu on the other hand gets episodes about a day later. It makes up for Netflix's loss.
Hulu has ads and doesn't have anywhere near the amount of content that Netflix has. But Hulu still gets those episodes early and has some content that Netflix doesn't have. I'm willing to bet those 24 Season 1-3 episodes ARE in HD with Hulu. ;-)
Bottom line is: Stop comparing the two services, and look at it against cable.
$19/month gets you both Hulu Plus and Netflix (1 disc out at a time)
or
$24/month for 2 discs out at a time with Hulu Plus.
That against:
$50/month for Comcast Cable (PUKE) that has tons of commercials and all that other good stuff.
Everyone wins with Hulu Plus and/or Netflix.
I got PSN+ and downloaded Hulu+ but I'm still waiting on an invite for it.
I prefer the Hulu Desktop Interface over the PS3 Hulu Plus app. Hulu desktop for the PC is quite nice, and I think it's much better.