Sony has been coy on whether Hulu Plus would be available only to PlayStation Plus subscribers. There may be a reason for that. A $170 reason.
The guys at Technologizer have found that in the source code for Hulu Plus' "devices" page, you can find the following point:
"The instructions below will help you install Hulu Plus on your PS3. Note: you must be a subscriber of the Playstation Plus Network."
It's not displayed on the actual page, but as you can see below, it's definitely in the code (or at least was at time of publishing).
While this isn't official confirmation from either Sony or Hulu, it doesn't look like a typo or slip of the tongue, either. Assuming this is true, if Hulu on your TV was a driving force behind you subscribing to PlayStation Plus, it would cost you $170 a year for the privilege ($50 for PS+, $10 a month for twelve months of Hulu Plus).
That's crazy. If you were signing up to PlayStation Plus anyways, knock yourself out, but this is hardly an enticing way to "build value".
Course, this craziness isn't specific to Sony's console. It's bound to be repeated all over again next year when the service becomes available on the Xbox 360, as it will definitely require an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
UPDATE - Reader Paul sends in the image below, activated by getting hold of a preview code for the service. It clearly includes the PSPlus-only statement.
[via Technologizer]