Xbox Live plus Hulu at E3 in less than two weeks? That’s the latest pre-E3 game-a-palooza rumor, which has it that Microsoft plans to announce Hulu support for Xbox Live during its press conference at the show on Monday June 14.
Carrying the water for a “very reliable source,” tech site Gear Live claims the Xbox 360–not Apple’s iPad–will kickstart a subscription-based pay model for the web-based commercial-supported streaming TV and movie service. Of course the iPad doesn’t support Flash, Hulu’s native video encapsulation method, so I’m not sure how significant the “coup” is. What’s more, services like MediaMall’s PlayOn have supported Hulu playback through the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii since August 2008.
If the rumor’s true, Hulu would theoretically be in competion with Netflix, which already channels on-demand TV and movie video streaming on Microsoft’s console. Compete, that is, unless the Hulu deal was limited to specific non-overlapping programming.
Is native Hulu support a dealmaker for any of you, or are you happy with Netflix? Will adding services like Hulu to Xbox Live force others like Netflix to offer more competitive price plans?
If you’re a PS3 owner, does $20 a year ($40 for the first) for a service like PlayOn that offers Hulu access now nullify Microsoft’s (rumored) lead here?
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