This article is a response to Engadget's recent article on PS3 browser, and how Hulu is unavailable on it.
The PlayStation 3 has kept access to Hulu even without PlayOn or other workaround while others were blocked -- with the exception of its own remote friendly desktop software -- thanks to its browser's Flash support, but this morning multiple users have reported the above message indicating "Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience." Some odd glitch related to the recent 2.80 firmware update or other temporary problem, or is this the latest platform to get the Boxee treatment when trying to bring streaming video to TV screens? We've reached out to Hulu for an explanation but so far, haven't heard a response. Interestingly, the Hulu TOS was just updated as of June 26, and although we haven't found any PS3-specific passages, changing a browser's user-string to match the console reveals it is definitely being specifically blocked.
Ever since the 2.76 update, Hulu hasn't been working anyway. What's even weirder? Wikipedia has listed the improvements for the PS3 2.80 update, and interestingly enough, one of the improvements are "An issue that prevents playback of Hulu content has been addressed. Instead of having Hulu unavailable or not found, it was finally blocked overall.
We have stressed the fact that the console that gets Hulu first will be the best media console. So far, [in my mind] PS3 and 360 are tied because they both have video stores, and Netflix and Blu-Ray even out the 2 consoles as well. We don't really care about who gets Hulu first, we just want Hulu to start streaming natively to new systems and devices.
