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Game Informer report: Xbox 360 failure rates at 54%

Posted Aug 17, 2009 at 3:55PM EST by Mabie A.

Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: Game Informer, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, xbox 360 titles

Image from http://www.ripten.com/2007/07/03/failure-rate-xbox-360-high-as-33-sony-ps3-less-than-1/ - Image 1

It's been a while since we've heard of anything regarding the Xbox 360's failure rate. After all, Microsoft did say that they have worked at making things better already. However, as this new survey published by Game Informer would indicate, the console's failure rate is anything but better and has in fact reached 54%.

The survey was conducted among nearly 5,000 readers, focusing on their experiences about their consoles breaking down. Among these respondents, only 3.8% said that they'll never buy another Xbox 360 because of the failure rates.

The results of the survey are as follows:

Console failure rate

Xbox 360 Â– 54.2%
Playstation 3 Â– 10.6%
Wii Â– 6.8%

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

Xbox 360 Â– 41.2%
Playstation 3 Â– 14.7%
Wii Â– 11%

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

Nintendo Â– 56.1%
Sony Â– 51.1%
Microsoft Â– 37.7%

Percentage of respondents whose friends have had console hardware failures.

Xbox 360 Â– 69.9%
Playstation 3 Â– 12.4%
Wii Â– 6%

CDC survey suggests gamers less healthy, more depressed than non-gamers

Via IGN

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No... why would they count repaired units? They didn't resell them, they repaired them. I'm sure some people went out and bought new consoles instead of having the broken one fixed.

This articles tells us two things:

A. This is by far the worst console launch in history as far as hardware failures go.

B. Microsoft must still be doing something right if less than 4% of people affected would still buy 360's in the future.

# ... — Echo307 2009-08-17 17:36

Does anyone else think all of these number are a little high? I've heard in the past that the 360 was at its worst the first year it launched, and the failure rate was around 35%. I heard something similar for the PS3, and the failure rate was less than 5%. I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with the audience the survey was used to conduct. People that read GI are probably more of a "hardcore" crowd. I bet if you counted all the people that are in the "casual" category, and don't play games that much, or just use the PS3 as a BD player, the number would be much lower for both.

# 4 xboxs in and I still prefer it. — Sublime85 2009-08-17 18:02

My xbox360 has died four times since launch, but I still prefer it over the competition. I had a Wii but I gave it to my exgfs little sisters after I got halfway through Mario Galaxy. I also had a PS3 when it launched, and the only games I had for it was Motorstorm and Ninja Gaiden, after about a month I sold it to Gamestop. So all I really want is a 360, even if it dies a few times over, I still would rather have a 360 than the other two any day. This is not a bash, just a personal opinion of console choice.

# ... — papajag 2009-08-17 18:03

Funny how only 3.8% don't want to buy another 360. M$ should be happy that's it's only a small amount. I fix 360s but only for my friends and it's not that hard(although it does fail almost every month). This it what happens when a company goes cheap and not add another fan inside the box.

# they COULD have counted them — Vman00 2009-08-17 18:13

microsoft COULD have counted them to inflate its numbers. like for every 3 360 fixed, they COULD have counted one as sold. some people who had failures had PROBABLY went out and bought another one, so microsoft could have sold 360s to the same install base. POSSIBLY, 360 has less than 30mil owners. just some common sense, which could POSSIBLY be true.

# ehh.... — Seoulfood 2009-08-17 18:25

whoa.... This is a little hard to believe. I know it's supposed to be high, but 54?? i dunnnoooo... if this is true, then people should really take another looks at what console sales numbers really mean. If even a third of the 30+mil 360s are dead, then that's a pretty bad install base

# .... — Ninjiz 2009-08-17 18:39

LOL yea..a user survey is just oh soooooooooooooo reliable and unbiased lol.

# numbers are about right. — ZanLong 2009-08-17 18:41

The manager of the Gamecrazy I used to go to had the numbers for the 360 failure rate at 63%. Plus this is GI poll. I would like to see if there is some where where there is an averge rate just to get an overall number.

# Disposable XBox360... — salvator 2009-08-17 19:02

Looks like MI3 disposable xbox360 that self destruct after few mths of play due overheat solder even for ROHS ISO standards.

Microsoft won't adhere to new changes unless the product can explain itself by being lucrative. The fundamental survival is in the amount of games and choices produced. Unless one of their department relly petition to their management to proceed, proven that they can improve the masses view and increase turnover sales for the company, staffs. Upon the incoming funds will come development and R&D resources for further continued products.

# LOL — fearlubu 2009-08-17 19:41

go head and enjoy purchasing/repairing multiple 360s lol

but really, though...i cant help but see this as a faboyish comment...even if you said it wasnt a bash

# .. — Musev 2009-08-17 21:12

"B. Microsoft must still be doing something right if less than 4% of people affected would still buy 360's in the future. "

You can be the most nasty person in the world and look like the best if you say the right things

...they know how people think and used it to their advantage. Lucky for them most people are like sheep.

# ps3 is weaaaaak — raefsomta 2009-08-17 21:25

the only reason id buy a ps3 is for the bluray, damn thing is a media station PERIOD... xbox has all that ps3 doesnt, better live expirence and yes better games. call me what ya want but realize XBOX ownz.

# Besides FPS and TPS... — papajag 2009-08-17 21:54

Tell me what games are better? Neither system is better than the other. It's just PS3 gives more variety of good games and 360 has FPS and TPS with some RPG.

I just don't get why people still say PS3 i just a Blu-ray player.

# @papajag — saldude2 2009-08-17 22:13

FPS,TPS and RPG that's about Every genre. The only FPS exclusive xbox has is halo. PS3 has resistance,MAG, Killzone. So ps3 is more of a FPS box than xbox.there is also the racing genre in which xbox has Forza 3.and also action adventure (crackdown). Now Can you tell me some ps3 exclusives which are NOT FPS,TPS ,RPG and racing??

# . — saldude2 2009-08-17 22:17

im pretty sure this is not true cuz the jasper unit now have a failure rate of 3%. PS3 did also have hardware failures (YLOD) im pretty sure both of the problems dont exist now on the new xboxs and ps3s

# That can't happen Vman00 — Jez 2009-08-17 22:29

A sale is a sale. A repair is not a sale. Therefore MS couldn't do that even if they wanted too without the discrepancy being noticed.

It's also similar to the comments some gamers used to make last gen about the PS2, suggesting the PS2 sales were not as high because (they falsely claimed) most gamers are buying 2nd and 3rd PS2s because of the disc read error (DRE) problems.

# Agreed — Jez 2009-08-17 22:36

Whilst this is food for the Sony fanboys (who I'm sure will enjoy munching on the 54% figure), it looks like the typical distortion we often get from user surveys.

I really don't believe that overall, 1 in 10 PS3s fail and then 1 in 7 of the replacement PS3s also fail. Those figures, like all the other figures, appears far too high.

Why are they so high? Well partially because of the reasons you gave, but also I feel because those who had a console failure are probably more likely to respond to the survey than those who haven't had any problems.

# ... — Csyrah 2009-08-17 23:19

I dont think they really could get an accurate count if they were trying to count repaired 360s. If you buy them at gamestop, you are told they are either new or a refurb, and I would *think* they would repair it to make sure it didn't fail again... but the gamestop guy did tell me that the majority of refurbs people buy, are returned back... because I originally bought a refurb and switched it to pay more for the new retail. So idk really what MS does... or why they havnt put the effort to lower this number. My step dad is on his 4th 360 in the last 4-5 years.

# ! — HIDEO KOJIMA 2009-08-18 00:01

I had the RRoD last month, 2nd time after almost three years. Lucky for me, MS gave everyone a 3 year extended warranty for anything RRoD, so I got my repair for free. While my PS3 is still dead after 2 repairs within 1 year.

I asked MS and Sony about their extended warranty, they said:

MS - $100 + 1 Year Warranty

Sony - $140 (or $150) + 3 Month Warranty

# Well — whaleshark 2009-08-18 00:14

I have had to send in my 360 6 times.

Yes:

6 times.

But, every time so far, it has been free. And every time, I have gotten a free month of live. So, as much as I hate the RRoD, I still love my 360.

My PS3 has yet to fail on me, and I love that, and I love how my PS3 is performing.

My Wii has been sent in 2 times, once for free, the other I had to pay. The free one was immediately after I bought the Wii. The battery died... >:|

The second time, it was a Disk read failure. Couldn't read anything. So, I had to pay 50 dollars. >:|

But, the bad thing about the 360 was the support.

It sucks.

REALLY BAD.

I ended up getting in a fight with one of the people because of some bull*****, he was saying "As the RRoD no longer happens, We cannot support your console" Which I knew wasn't true, so I *****ing flipped on him.

With PS3 support, I have had none. I haven't needed it. But if it is as good as Vaio support, then it must be great.

Wii support was ok. I had some issues, they got the box location wrong. But other than that, it was ok.

Overall, My PS3 and my Elite look so sexy sitting next to each other. Both are sparkling in awesomeness.

But, my wii has been gathering some dust. I haven't really played any games on it... Its not that it is a horrible console, its just that the games are horrible. So far, there are possibly 4-5 games that I like. All the rest are minigame junkyards.

So yea... As much as my 360 has failed, I still love it. Just as much as I love my PS3.

# geez — Lethal_NFS 2009-08-18 02:19

I love how there is a picture slapped right in the middle of the article that I can not remove.

# well..... — karkus12 2009-08-18 02:27

I have had a ps3 since launch day and never had a single problem with it. about a week ago i decided "hey, there are some exclusive games for the 360 I would like to play" so I bought one. Brought it home and played Left 4 Dead with my girlfriend for about an hour and after we were done, the 360 died. So in the end my system experience is as follows....

Ps3- about 3 years ( and still no problems )

360- about 2 hours

I did end up taking back the 360 and got another one because I do really like the system, i just don't like Microsoft.

# Maybe... — AllyOmega 2009-08-18 03:16

he is a fanboy. but i respect this opinion. its his opinion, let him keep it. as long as hes not saying "xbox 360 RUEELLEESSS!!!1!!!! ps3 SucKeEsSs!11!!1!1!!1!!1!one! DIe pS3 FanboyS!@"

# ... — AllyOmega 2009-08-18 03:19

and these are the comments that i cant respect because they're just too idiotic. You, sir, create wars. Have fun stirring up anger.

# ... — Silver-Tiger 2009-08-18 03:59

That complete "study" is BS. No way the failure rate of the Xbox 360 is so high. The failure rate of the two other console is complete rubbish, too. I've never heard of a Wii failure at all.

We have two PS3s at my home. I know 5 friends who have a PS3. None of them broke down. I know 8 friends who have a 360. Two of them had a RRoD. One of them had second RRoD, but that pretty much was it.

# ... — Silver-Tiger 2009-08-18 04:05

@ Sublime85:

Fine that at least some people can express their opinions without crying: "PS3 SUCKS! 360 RULESS!!!"

But You should really give the PS3 a try again. The game situation has changed dramatically. IMHO, you always gonna miss out some great games if you don't own all three consoles. In this generation, all three competitors have great things to offer.

# LBP — Vman00 2009-08-18 04:11

sorry that i had to bring it up, but LBP is a puzzle game. and there are other games that may not necessarily fit some of those genres. one can argue that uncharted is an action/adventure game, like assassin's greed, not a TPS

# yeah — jrsmaster411 2009-08-18 04:57

you really didn't give the PS3 a fair shot, things have changed since 06 dramatically, PS3 now has great games, and psn works, what more could you want?

# @raefsomta — jrsmaster411 2009-08-18 04:59

I'll call you what you are, delusional. raefsomta is obviously stuck in 2006, and it's still cool to bash the PS3 for not having games

# Agreed — Mr Toasty 2009-08-18 07:16

couldn't have said it better myself Jez, this looks a bit like response bias.

# ok — narutosaiyan 2009-08-18 07:25

"

Does anyone else think all of these number are a little high? I've heard in the past that the 360 was at its worst the first year it launched, and the failure rate was around 35%. I heard something similar for the PS3, and the failure rate was less than 5%. I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with the audience the survey was used to conduct. People that read GI are probably more of a "hardcore" crowd. I bet if you counted all the people that are in the "casual" category, and don't play games that much, or just use the PS3 as a BD player, the number would be much lower for both. "

so if i understand you right you are saying that the less you use a system the less chance it has of failing. But i own a ps3 for 3 years now and it is rarely off, even when im not using it its on. i also bought a 360 at launch, i didn't use it until halo3 came out. i put in halo 3 and a few minutes later RROD, the way i see it ms doesn't give a crap about its customers. if high failure rates means more sales than they will not fix anything...and stupid people run out and get another one.

# .. — Masemune 2009-08-18 11:27

That's sad of M$

# Yeep — Master Chef 2009-08-18 11:38

None of the numbers seem legit. I think it's pretty much a given now that the 360 is by far the most unreliable video game console ever released, and possibly has the highest failure rate of any electronics from a big company (industry norm is 3-5%) but I don't think it's 54%. And 10.6% of PS3s fail? That's way higher than any number I've ever heard before

# . — Dave 2009-08-18 12:06

Don't know how people can find this hard to believe, look around, 360s are failing pretty much every hour.

# Obviously — Stealth! 2009-08-18 12:58

This article is bull*****. I'm not calling QJ is but rather the main article where they got it from. The 360 never had a 60% or more failure rate. The current failure rates that was known back in 07 was this:

360 - 33% failure rate

PS3 and Wii had an astounding 2% failure rate.

Even if they managed to put these consoles through vigorous testing like playing it at like 100 degrees Fahrenheit or negative 20 degrees Fahrenheit or more and all that jazz, this seems more of a exaggeration.

Ever since Jasper and Falcon Chips been released the 360 failure rate dropped incredibly by half. Which means it's down to 16% which is the SAME EXACT percentages as the PS2 failure rate with DRE. This seems to be trying to make the 360 look worse with a high failure rate then how it was 2 years ago.

# its not bull***** — narutosaiyan 2009-08-18 13:34

its called random sampling and its pretty accurate since scientists have been using it since...well...science existed. im not surprised that ps3 or 360 rates went up because pretty much everyone i know has gone through at least 1 RROD, and i have a couple of friends who had overheated ps3s. what surprises me is the amount of people who get RROD 4-5 times and still kiss M$ ass. I mean what kind of purchase have you made when your console spends more time at some M$ factory? if i had a car that broke 6 times and i had to wait 2 weeks for it to be repaired id much rather sell it and get a better one.

# I wonder — chessboxer 2009-08-18 14:25

how many people would stick with the same make/model of car if it was widely reported as being the most unreliable car to go on sale (and still hasn't been recalled) in history if they had to get it towed every 30 or so times that they turned on the engine...

# meh — rollypoly 2009-08-18 14:37

i can't call bull***** on this either... i've owned 4 unique 360s and the only one that hasn't failed at least once is my halo3 edition.

why i keep buying 360s is the same reason i own (and maintain) a 1971 monte carlo... it's what i want.

cars are like games in that each car is different and everyone has their preference. i like the way a camaro looks vs the way a mustang looks. just like how i prefer to way halo controls to just about any other FPS.

# Actually Stealth! — chessboxer 2009-08-18 14:42

Last year a MS employee broke their NDA and revealed that from the production line, 66% of all manufactured 360's failed during QA (before being sent out to retailers). Of that remaining 34% which made it into shops and homes, a further 33% were expected to fail.

As for the Falcon chipset, they were the heaviest casualties of E74 (checkout Engadget and Joystiq's many features on E74). It was rumoured (but not proven) that MS changed the RROD error in this chipset to produced a different error code. I don't believe MS did this, I think it was another problem just waiting to happen, and it did, massively, prompting MS to include E74 in the extended 3yr guarantee.

I don't know where you get your figures from about the failure rate dropping to 16% but consider how many 360's were sold before the Jasper chipset launched. Common sense tells you that a very small percentage of those working 360's out there have a Jasper chipset, so if you believe that the failure magically dropped to 16% for the 360 just because Jasper consoles can be bought (but very few people own) then you're only lying to yourself. It even has it own Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems

Here is a hard hitting fact for everyone: The Xbox 360 has the highest failure rate of any electrical item that has been sold to consumers and not received a product recall.

# ! — HIDEO KOJIMA 2009-08-18 19:18

"I do really like the system, i just don't like Microsoft."

Opposite for me, I like the PS3, jut not Sony. Like I said in my previous post, MS gave an extended 3 year warranty on all Xbox 360s. Sony has not and probably will not. My PS3s BD Drive died twice exactly 6 months both times. I could care less about how many times I need a console repaired, so long as it was still under warranty. The difference between both MS and Sony extended warranty is $40-50 and 9 months. MS having the cheaper and longer warranty. I wouldn't mind putting down $100 once a year or two. I just don't plan on putting down $140 every 3 or 6 months.

# at Echo307 — Aces In The Palm 2009-08-18 22:51

think you mean

B. Microsoft must still be doing right if less than 4% of people affected would not buy 360's in the future.

Meaning 96% of people would gladly buy another 360 in the future.

Think everyone got your point though (just read a little weird to me)

I think Microsoft really need to step up the quality of their products. With the release of the PS3 slim soon, at the same price range as xbox360 ($299US).

If Xbox wants to remain ontop of the hardcore market, they have to stop sitting on their thumbs.

# It was a mail-in survey, so it's not accurate. — dd409 2009-08-19 01:46

The numbers are artificially high, because it was a voluntary, mail-in survey. Those who had XBoxes that worked fine would be less likely to take the time and fill it out; on the other hand, those with broken XBoxes would be more likely to fill the survey out and send it in.

So you end up with artificial data that can't be trusted.

# . — joebo19x 2009-08-19 04:49

usually this is the case when you do not take proper care of you're system.

if it is on a rug wrong spot.

if it is next to a wall...bad spot.

you must allow you're system to push out all the hot air. or it will store it within itself and overheat witch will +ylod

This generation of systems is closer to a PC then anyone thinks. take care of you're Xbox or PS3 as if it was a $2000 gaming rig you just built. 3 years in not one problem with either my xbox wii or ps3.

# Dang — Tashy P 2009-08-19 05:02

Ps3s been most reliable for me so far. Not failed me yet. I was suprised when my Wii broke twice! The repaired one they sent me wasnt repaired, still wudnt read discs. Was suprising, considering the 360. I know mates that have had the red ring twice. Sucks :/ ive only had it once, so I knew it was coming to me eventually. Luckily for me it was still in warrenty. All sorted now though, and modded my wii!

# .... — Shatterdome 2009-08-19 07:44

I know two people who have had their 360's die and had to buy new ones because....drumroll.....they were moded to play burnt games. Not wanting to give up on all those free games they downloaded already, they bought news ones and moded them again.

When mine died I tossed it and bought a PS3.

It's hard to buy a new system when you already have invested money into real games, arcade games, add-on content etc.....lucky I didn't give a *****.

# 360.... — Shatterdome 2009-08-19 07:51

Is like selling a car without wheels, seats and a steering wheel. Once you invest in all those things it is hard not to buy the same car again because what are you going to do with these extra parts you invested in ? (I am talking headsets, rechargeable batteries, play n charge cords, faceplates, HDD if you bought an arcade, XBL games etc...)

# I like the last statistics. — TPot 2009-08-23 12:28

If you divide the last stat by the respective first stat, you get the chance that an owner of a console has a friend.

xbox = 129%

ps3 = 117%

wii = 88%

Looks like the Wii isn't such a social gaming device after all.

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