Hulu Plus to require XBL Gold, PlayStation Plus probable

Hulu announced its long-expected premium extension to its on-demand TV show streaming service yesterday, revealing the $10-a-month Hulu Plus subscription. In the process, the company settled in the affirmative the question of whether Hulu would arrive on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as had been widely reported since the beginning of June. However, it appears as if Hulu Plus will come with a few conditions for console owners.

In a post to his official blog, Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb confirmed that Hulu Plus will be available only to Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Gold-level subscriptions to Xbox Live cost $50 a year, or $8 a month. Xbox 360 owners must subscribe to Xbox Live Gold to access a number of other multimedia features, including on-demand movie streaming service Netflix, which also requires its own subscription fee.

Notably, Hryb also offered an explanation as to why Xbox 360 owners will have to wait until early 2011 to access Hulu Plus. "We are taking the time to ensure that the Hulu Plus experience for Xbox 360 is the best on TV and like our other entertainment experiences it will not be a port, but rather a custom experience that leverages the Xbox Live community features," he said.

It appears as if PS3 owners, too, will be required to pay an additional subscription fee on top of Hulu Plus' $10-a-month plan to access the TV streaming service. As first spotted by Technologizer, embedded within the source code of the Hulu Plus Web site is a line that states that PS3 owners must subscribe to PlayStation Plus to access Hulu Plus.

"The instructions below will help you install Hulu Plus on your PS3," the embedded language reads. "Note: you must be a subscriber of the Playstation Plus Network."

Launched earlier this week, PlayStation Plus supplements the free version of the PlayStation Network and offers users free games, early demos, beta invites, discounts, free themes, and avatars. The premium service costs $50 annually, or $18 for a three-month subscription. The first month's offerings include a free copy of the downloadable racer Wipeout HD, two PSP mini games, and a handful of premium avatars.

Hulu Plus bears a "coming soon" launch date for the PS3, though the company has also indicated that its release could come as early as July. Sony had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.