Hulu Plus coming to the Xbox 360 tomorrow (with a free trial)

By Ryan Fleming April 28, 2011

In a further step toward turning the Xbox 360 into an all-in-one home entertainment system system, starting tomorrow, Friday April 29, Hulu will be available to Xbox Live Gold Members. Furthermore, for the first seven days, ending May 6, the service will be free to all; no Xbox Live Gold Membership or signups will be required.

The inclusion of the service ends nearly a year’s worth of negotiations between Microsoft, Hulu and the various companies involved. Hulu joins Netflix, ESPN and the Zune library in offering 360 customers more reasons to ditch their monthly cable service.

Once the initial free period is over, the service will cost $7.99 per month. For that price, users will receive HD video, a fairly sizable library of content and limited commercial interruptions.

It is a similar service to what is currently offered through Hulu on the PlayStation Network—with the exception that the Xbox Live version should be up and running next week.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Gaming

PS Plus’ library is looking more like Game Pass’ in May lineup

Two cars race side-by-side in Grid Legends.

Sony revealed the next batch of three games that will be available throughout May 2023 as part of PlayStation Plus Essential. The lineup includes Grid Legends, Chivalry 2, and Descenders. All are very solid games in their respective genres, but interestingly, they are all also games that Xbox Game Pass subscribers will already have access to.
Grid Legends is the headlining game for this month, and it's a racing game from Codemasters where the standout feature is a story mode framed like a racing documentary with live-action interviews. While I had mixed feelings about the game and the mode when reviewing it last year, those looking for a basic but enjoyable racing game to tide them over until the next Forza Motorsport, Test Drive Unlimited, or The Crew can have some fun with it. If you're subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you're also able to play this game on that platform thanks to EA Play.

For those that are still in a sporty mood, Descenders is an enjoyable downhill biking game that'll scratch the same gaming itch as series like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater or Lonely Mountains: Downhill. Then, there's Chivalry 2, a very intense multiplayer game set in medieval times, which gives it a very welcome change in setting compared to many of its multiplayer peers. Both games are currently playable if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, but will likely leave the service at a later date.
If you are subscribed to both PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass, you will be fine skipping out on May's PS Plus Essential titles. If you only own a PlayStation console, though, or want to guarantee that you'll still have these games after they leave Xbox Game Pass, then definitely consider downloading them. These games will all be available with PS Plus from May 1 until June 6. Make sure you pick up April's PS Plus Essential games before May 1 as well.

Gaming

Former PS5 exclusive Ghostwire: Tokyo Comes to Xbox Game Pass in April

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Former PlayStation 5 exclusive Ghostwire: Tokyo will launch for Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC on April 12. A free update called The Spider's Thread will release on the same day for all platforms, including Xbox Series X/S, PC and PlayStation 5. The game is being added to Xbox Game Pass.

Ghostwire: Tokyo was first released on PS5 and PC on March 25, 2022. Despite Microsoft owning Bethesda at the time, preexisting agreements were honored and the game remained a timed console exclusive on PS5. The same situation occurred with Bethesda's Deathloop, which initially launched on PS5 and PC in September 2021 and then came to Xbox Series X/S a year later.

Gaming

Time is running out to play Battlefield 2042 for free

Crawford shoots enemies with a turret he place in Battlefield 2042.

If you want to try Battlefield 2042 for free on PC, your time is running out. You have just over a day to download and play it on Steam before it goes back to being a full-price release.
Battlefield 2042's free access period on Steam began on March 13, about two weeks after the start of Season 4: Eleventh Hour. If you go to its store page on Steam, you can download and play it for free until 12 p.m. ET on March 16. The game is also discounted on Steam during this time, so you can pick Battlefield 2042 up for $18 instead of $60.
If you don't want to buy the game directly but still want to continue playing after this free trial period, you have some options. Battlefield 2042 is included in multiple subscription services at the moment. It is one of March 2023's monthly PlayStation Plus titles for both PS4 and PS5 subscribers. Meanwhile, it's available as part of the EA Play game library, which Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S all have access to.
If you use the same EA account on those platforms, you'll be able to carry over all of your account progression and items and not lose any progress. As such, this free access period on Steam is a great time to check out Battlefield 2042 if you've been on the fence about picking it up.
Battlefield 2042 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Its free Steam demo ends on March 16.