So XBL finally added their Hulu+ App and I kinda dig it, but kinda not. In form and function it's identical to Instant and it's kinda lovely to see that dedicated Criterion Collection channel. As far as ads - I watched an episode of 30 Rock and there was a 30 second pre-roll spot and one or two 30-second spots in the pre-formatted breaks in the show, which wasn't horrible - that's the way the show is built, after all.
Then I pulled up a Criterion movie (HAUSU) and there was literally a 3-second bump at the top ("Hulu is proud to support the efforts of Oceana.") and that was it - onto the movie. No Hulu bug in the corner (also not in the corner of the 30 Rock episode as the NBC Peacock hung out there) and, up to now, no breaks in the movie (obviously there won't be). I was also a little stunned at how QUICKLY the movie loaded (in HD no less) but maybe it's just my dozens and dozens of hours logged onto Instant affecting the perception - obviously there are gonna be hangups based on my connection and its cooperativeness - I'm sure if I spent enough time on Hulu+ I'd hit a few loading snags as well.
So in terms of use and the whole ad shenanigans I'm happy as a clam. But the selection is bollocks outside of Criterion. No way in hell I'd pay money a month for what they offered if it wasn't for TCC and they haven't even added all of the movies yet, as a matter of fact, the 5 or 6 that were at the top of my search list weren't on there at all. There are a LOT there already, though.
Now, I dunno how any of this would translate over to watching it on the Hulu site, but if the only tradeoff for having the (eventual) complete CC on my 360 is $8 a month and a 3-second pre-roll bump, then, well, it seems like a no-brainer, though I personally would probably wait to start the bank drafts until they added more of the CC.
