Xbox 360 failure rate is 54.2 percent

I know, I was thinking exactly the same thing when I saw this. They still publish The Seattle Post Intelligencer? :) But seriously. If this is true, Microsoft has some explaining yet to do. Actually, I'm surprised it's not higher. I've had at least 6 Xbox 360s Red Ring on me. And at least one of them did it twice. Only my two newest consoles--the only two we have left, one for me, one for my son Mark--have yet to die. One might be excused for feeling that it's going to happen, inevitably. Xbox 360 gamers know the Red Ring of Death all too well. When one of Microsoft's gaming consoles experiences a hardware failure, three of the four red lights ringing the Xbox's power indicator illuminate. Since the Xbox 360's launch in late 2005, system failures have gained their fair share of attention. Last year, Microsoft even set aside $1 billion to extend Red Ring of Death warranty coverage to three years. In fact, a Game Informer survey of 5,000 readers found that the Xbox 360 has an astounding 54.2 percent failure rate. That means 54.2 percent of Xbox 360 consoles fail in one way or another. That's well above the reported failure rates of Sony's PlayStation 3 (10.6 percent) and Nintendo's Wii (6.8 percent). However, when the results hit newsstands in the September 2009 issue of Game Informer, gamers were surprised with the results. No, they didn't think 54.2 percent was a high rate - they thought it was low. Ahahaha. There it is. Yep. Xbox 360 owners know. You should read the full post. The data here is awful, no matter how you look at it.

Paul Thurrott

August 20, 2009

2 Min Read
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I know, I was thinking exactly the same thing when I saw this. They still publish The Seattle Post Intelligencer? :)

But seriously. If this is true, Microsoft has some explaining yet to do. Actually, I'm surprised it's not higher. I've had at least 6 Xbox 360s Red Ring on me. And at least one of them did it twice. Only my two newest consoles--the only two we have left, one for me, one for my son Mark--have yet to die. One might be excused for feeling that it's going to happen, inevitably.

Xbox 360 gamers know the Red Ring of Death all too well. When one of Microsoft's gaming consoles experiences a hardware failure, three of the four red lights ringing the Xbox's power indicator illuminate.

Since the Xbox 360's launch in late 2005, system failures have gained their fair share of attention. Last year, Microsoft even set aside $1 billion to extend Red Ring of Death warranty coverage to three years.

In fact, a Game Informer survey of 5,000 readers found that the Xbox 360 has an astounding 54.2 percent failure rate. That means 54.2 percent of Xbox 360 consoles fail in one way or another.

That's well above the reported failure rates of Sony's PlayStation 3 (10.6 percent) and Nintendo's Wii (6.8 percent).

However, when the results hit newsstands in the September 2009 issue of Game Informer, gamers were surprised with the results. No, they didn't think 54.2 percent was a high rate - they thought it was low.

Ahahaha. There it is. Yep. Xbox 360 owners know. You should read the full post. The data here is awful, no matter how you look at it.

About the Author

Paul Thurrott

Paul Thurrott is senior technical analyst for Windows IT Pro. He writes the SuperSite for Windows, a weekly editorial for Windows IT Pro UPDATE, and a daily Windows news and information newsletter called WinInfo Daily UPDATE.

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