First Look - Hulu Plus on Xbox 360

We booted up Hulu Plus when it launched on Xbox 360 last week fully expecting to subscribe. Several days in, we're underwhelmed but starting to get our bearings. Here are our first impressions plus a few tips and tricks.

If you haven't already, you can get a free trial just by signing up with any Xbox 360 account (even free) but only for the first week. After that, a Gold membership is required (same as Netflix). To sign up, go to hulu.com/plus/unlock. If you have a Gold membership, you can get a free month but you will need to supply a credit card for that. We signed up today and were informed that we'll be billed June 6, so we've set a reminder for early June in case we want to cancel.

Hulu Plus is a bit confusing, so here are some key concepts and helpful tips that may help you get going faster:

• Hulu is the free Web only service. Hulu Plus is the premium $8 per month versiom, which includes more shows and access from devices such as iPad, PS3 and now Xbox 360. Even if you sign up on Xbox 360, your free trial account can be accessed via any supported device.
• Web Only refers to programs that can only be viewed on your computer. These shows may appear in searches on your console or portable device, but you can't watch them there. However, there are some Web Exclusive clips, and these played fine on our Xbox 360. Hulu should perhaps rethink it's labels since these sound like they'd be interchangeable.
• On the Xbox 360, after you download the Hulu Plus app you can launch it in the Video Marketplace section. Also, at least for the short-term, you can use the Guide button to access Quick Launch and then find it in the Latest Downloads section.
• When you finish watching a program on the Xbox 360, it remains in your queue but is hidden by default. If you are done watching it, you should probably remove it before exiting back to your queue. But if you want to watch it again, remove it and then re-add it. It will get bumped to the end of your queue but at least you can easily find it!
• Use the shortcuts. The X button adds the selected program to your Queue (or removes it if it's already on there). Press Y to play immediately.

Overall, we think Hulu Plus has a ways to go before we'd pay for it. Here is what we found lacking:

• Topical shows added late. For this to be a DVR replacement, timely shows like The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert should be posted for prime time viewing, not in the middle of the night or next day.
• Web Only programs. We went to watch a friend's appearance on The View this week, and it was: a) not posted yet and b) the program is available Web Only. Some of our Twitter friends complained that all of the programs they wanted were Web Only. This is a big barrier to adoption.
• Criterion Collection movies are a bright spot - we're big fans of their DVDs of classic and influential films, and there are a few hundred movies here. But Criterion is known for its extras, and there are none of these on Hulu, and there are some glaring omissions. Still, worth a look.
• Incomplete TV series. We thought we'd start watching House M.D., but found only the latest season - despite placeholders for the other seasons. We'd like to start at the beginning, so this is a pass. At least Desperate Housewives appears to be complete, so we may continue where we left off on it with Season 4.
• Series poorly collected, unable to batch add. Hulu could learn a lot from Netflix, which recently folded all seasons of the same TV show into a seamless group and lets you add all episodes of a series quickly to your queue.
• Ads. For $8 a month, we'd expect no ads (as with Netflix). Maybe if the subscription were $5 or less, we'd be more accepting of the ads - which, to be fair, are much shorter than regular TV spots. But our DVR lets us skip ads, so this actually felt like a step back.

The Netflix streaming only plan is priced the same as Hulu Plus but offers much greater selection of TV shows and movies. We might be persuaded to make Hulu Plus part of our entertainment budget at a later date, but for now it feels incomplete and unnecessary...