Xbox 360 Failure Rate Reaches 54%

[Dante]

From IGN360

If your Xbox 360 hasn't broken down yet or suffered from the dreaded red ring of death, then consider yourself pretty lucky.

 

A new survey published in Game Informer's print edition indicates the Xbox 360 failure rate has climbed to a shocking 54.2%. The magazine surveyed nearly 5000 readers, asking them about their experience dealing with broken consoles.

 

Here are their findings:

 

Console failure rate

 

Xbox 360 – 54.2%

Playstation 3 – 10.6%

Wii – 6.8%

 

Percentage of console owners who suffered a second hardware failure after the original repair.

 

Xbox 360 – 41.2%

Playstation 3 – 14.7%

Wii – 11%

 

Percentage of people who rate their customer service experience "very helpful"

 

Nintendo – 56.1%

Sony – 51.1%

Microsoft – 37.7%

 

Percentage of respondents whose friends have had console hardware failures.

 

Xbox 360 – 69.9%

Playstation 3 – 12.4%

Wii – 6%

 

The magazine also makes a few notes about their results:

 

The reason the Wii has the lowest hardware failure rate could be because console is played the least of the three. 41.4% of Wii owners surveyed said they play the console less than one hour a day, meanwhile the majority of Xbox 360 (40.3%) and Playstation 3 (37%) owners say they play their console on an average of three to five hours day.

 

Also, only 3.8% of respondents said they'd never buy another Xbox system because of the failure rates.

 

How have your experiences been?

[Ashley]

Lol how bias "the Wii doesn't break because its not played" according to a survey on the IGN site (or is it just the 360 section of the IGN site becasue that would be even worse).

 

I've always said, you can criticise the Wii for its games but its a tough little bugger

[Daft]

I can say with absolute certainty, Sony's customer service is fantastic. They are a lovely bunch of people. Both times my PS3 broke, they were very helpful.

 

My 360 has broken once, at a really annoying time. At about the same time I started using it less, partly because I didn't want it to break again (which is kind of a stupid reason).

 

My biggest problem with the 360 is the goddamn noise. Not the breakdowns.

 

My launch Wii is really slow at loading disks. Tres lame.

[Mikey]

Lol how bias "the Wii doesn't break because its not played" according to a survey on the IGN site (or is it just the 360 section of the IGN site becasue that would be even worse).

 

I've always said, you can criticise the Wii for its games but its a tough little bugger

 

The GameCube was practically impossible to break as well. It's a shame about the 360 failure rate, but I still love the system.

[Mundi]

I love these statistics...

5000 out of 30 odd million out there must be accurate!

Not that it dosen´t change the fact RROD should not be there in the first place.

[Gizmo]

Tbh I'm surprised it's that low.

[Cube]

I love these statistics...

5000 out of 30 odd million out there must be accurate!

 

Plus is a games magazine. So on top of the people who say they've had a faulty Xbox, you have people thinking "Xboxes break a lot, I'll put that down".

 

The last three home consoles I've had are the 360, Wii and GameCube.

 

My 360 got the RROD so I was without it for a couple of days (swapped it in a store).

My Wii was apparently faulty (it made horrendous noises, which would apparently lead onto worse things) and it wouldn't be long until it needed replacing (but it was stolen before I realised).

My GameCube started crashing a lot and had to be replaced.

[Shino]

I love these statistics...

5000 out of 30 odd million out there must be accurate!

Not that it dosen´t change the fact RROD should not be there in the first place.

 

That's how they do this stuff and god damn that's way too many RROD.

[Dyson]

I've had more problems with my Wii than my 360. Difference is, I've actually been bothered to get my 360 sent off and repaired.

[Mundi]

That's how they do this stuff and god damn that's way too many RROD.

 

Yes that is very clear but this survey shows only a fraction of Xboxes out there and the title is misleading when you look at the data.

 

Too me this just a "Haha this console fails!" and will only spark needless arguments and flame wars over a subject everyone knows about and is a blight upon the console.

[Shino]

I've had more problems with my Wii than my 360. Difference is, I've actually been bothered to get my 360 sent off and repaired.

 

Because you wouldn't risk pirate it and lose your Live account.

[Dyson]

Even before I hacked my Wii I was having problems, the hacking side of things has nothing to do with it.

[Shino]

Even before I hacked my Wii I was having problems, the hacking side of things has nothing to do with it.

 

I'm just saying, if you hadn't "fixed" it with the usb loader, than maybe you would feel more compelled to send it to Nintendo (unless you are talking about something else that's not that disk grinding issue).

[Aimless]

As surveys go 5000 people is a pretty good number. Is it 100% accurate? No, but nor is any survey. Every statistic you read is extrapolated from a sample group, that's how these things work.

 

I'm not sure why everyone's being so defensive about the failure rate. I for one am on my seventh (!) 360, and I'd be interested to know how many people here haven't had to send their machine off.

 

Honestly, reading comments around this elsewhere has been like listening to battered wives. "The 360 isn't unreliable. Mine's only broken twice, and I was only without it for a week both times. There's no problem here. It won't happen again, it promised!"

[dwarf]

I'd rather Sony employed complete twats for customer service but repaired the PS3 for free or a reasonable sum rather than making people pay for a refurb at half the price of a new system.

 

It's rediculous, crap warranty and it doesn't really matter if you're within it, you still have to cough up.

[Choze]

As surveys go 5000 people is a pretty good number. Is it 100% accurate? No, but nor is any survey. Every statistic you read is extrapolated from a sample group, that's how these things work.

 

Their sampling is strictly gameinformer readers. Hence you have the odd Wii comments.

[nightwolf]

I'm not sure why everyone's being so defensive about the failure rate. I for one am on my seventh (!) 360, and I'd be interested to know how many people here haven't had to send their machine off.

 

Honestly, reading comments around this elsewhere has been like listening to battered wives. "The 360 isn't unreliable. Mine's only broken twice, and I was only without it for a week both times. There's no problem here. It won't happen again, it promised!"

 

I've had mine since what december now and I've not had a problem (except scaring the crap out of myself for not plugging it in properly and causing those red flashing lights rather than an rrod.)

 

I find the Wii bit slightly ridiculous if you look at the sales of the three console (I'm sure Dante made a thread somewhere) it makes the point slightly biased because of the statistic group. Oh well.

[Cube]

I find the Wii bit slightly ridiculous if you look at the sales of the three console (I'm sure Dante made a thread somewhere) it makes the point slightly biased because of the statistic group. Oh well.

 

Considering it's a multi-format magazine, the target base of the Wii isn't these people. So they will likely play it less.

[Aimless]

I've had mine since what december now and I've not had a problem (except scaring the crap out of myself for not plugging it in properly and causing those red flashing lights rather than an rrod.)

Give it time, my dear...

 

I actually don't think it's worth worrying about. It's annoying, yes, but at least it doesn't cost you anything to get your machine fixed — outside the price of a cardboard box, anyway. Obviously newer machines aren't going to be faultless as complicated electronics will break from time to time, but I certainly think the worst is over; I still come across a lot of people having their machines fail, but some of these are people who've had it since launch and it's only just fallen over. Vagaries of general survey practise aside, the 54% figure is one for the console from launch; perhaps if you only questioned those who had bought a 360 in the last 12 months the failure rate would be under 10%.

 

On the other hand I don't see how anyone can deny the rather shoddy track record of the console to date, or any reason to do so. It's been a huge screw up on Microsoft's part and they didn't handle it very well at all, eventually being driven to throw money at the problem. That said it's still a decent machine that plays host to some excellent games, so really it just comes down to a question of risk-reward and what you're prepared to put up with. I'm certainly not happy that I'm on my seventh console, but I'll grudgingly deal with it because I like good games. I might not be too eager to pick up Microsoft's next machine on launch day, though...

[Goafer]

That is a pretty shit statistic to be honest. At least the customer service is good, if a little patronising (from my experience anyway).

 

"Hello, I have tried everything your website recommender and my 360 is borked"

"Have you made sure the leads are connected properly?"

"Yes, I've tried everything suggested on the site"

"Have you given it time to cool down?"

"Sigh"

[Emerald Emblem]

Mine is nearing 1 year old and no problems. I make sure my 360 is in a well ventilated area near a window so I hope it goes for longer than the standard 360 users. But it's no surprise it's that high, I was expecting a little higher myself from what I hear.