There has been a lot said about what the exact failure rate of the Xbox 360 is.
Microsoft has always claimed that it is within the industry norm 3-5% while some nutters have claimed it is closer to 66%. (I highly doubt it). The most common claim is 33% which is still higher than I would expect.
One company who sells extended warranties has gone through their books and come up with a number of their own. They claim that 16% of Xbox 360 consoles fail and 60% of the failures are due to the RROD.
I would think 16% is most probably accurate but where I disagree is that they expect this percentage to grow while I am expecting it to drop due to the new and refined hardware in the consoles.
I do however believe that virtually every single one of the original batches will die within the 3 year warranty. However the revised models will have a standard failure rate.
The PS3 and Wii failure rates are accepted to be in the industry norm range.
Report Claims Xbox 360 Failure Rates at 16% news from 1UP.com
Last Updated: February 14, 2008
Fox1
February 14, 2008 at 09:43
Both mine and my friends 360’s succumbed to RROD! Fact is its a blessing in disguise. Why? Because you get one with better hardware after u swap out. But, strangely, mine succumbed to RROD on the 12th month of the guarantee. I’m glad it did.
Abe
February 14, 2008 at 10:40
I cant believe that its only 16%, I mean everyone I know who has owned an xbox has had it die on them atleast once, and some more than three times! I wonder if there is a giant hole in the nevada desert filled with xbox’s?
Fox1
February 14, 2008 at 10:48
lol, No Abe… they are refurbishing the xbox’s and putting them back in the market, atleast in Europe that is.
LazySAGamer
February 14, 2008 at 11:09
@Abe, you know me (kind off) and my Xbox never died 🙂
Banana hammock
February 14, 2008 at 12:50
Even 16% is a disgrace, but i think it’s around the 20% mark. There was another article a long time ago where a supplier said they were getting back over 30% failures.
And MS say it’s within the industry norm? Just like they said not having a HDD will not take away from your gaming experience… enter Burnout Paradise!
Naudran
February 14, 2008 at 12:56
Mine’s never “died”, but it has “fainted” round 4-5 times…
Abe
February 14, 2008 at 14:50
“fainted” lol!
Well lazy you make one!
doobiwan
February 14, 2008 at 16:10
That sounds about right.
I feel sorry for the other 84%, they don’t get new Xboxes 😉
Tan365
February 14, 2008 at 17:13
I’m sure the 33% still holds … either way it will forever carry the title of the “worst ever console failure rate in history” lol sorry okes 😉
doobiwan
February 14, 2008 at 18:40
No one asked you numb nuts :p
Fox1
February 14, 2008 at 19:09
I totally disagree with that comment Tan. The Wii also had a problem similar to RROD. The PS3 also when it was in beta stage. So what Sony did? They dropped the clock frequency on the Core CPU’s cores to 2.6ghz. Remember that embarrassing E3 in 2006 or was it 2007 when the PS3’s where overheating?
Tan365
February 14, 2008 at 19:37
zip it you chimney sweeper!
@Fox1 – Well… it will go down in history as having been “the console with the worst ever failure rate.” Thats just fact. U also mention the Wii & PS3 were ‘beta’ so u’d expect problems but not from the final product (which there arent any problems).
The Wii & PS3 failure rates are fine but the xbox360 has “beta-esque” technical difficulties and was released. I dont know why u’d disagree.
Fox1
February 14, 2008 at 21:29
Which century you live in with chimney’s? I think you have been in the sun toooooo long. 365 days precisely! The Wii wasn’t in beta with failures.
Tan365
February 14, 2008 at 22:19
whoah slow down there cowboy … the chimney sweeper comment was not at you so relax and i’ll ignore ur sun comment.
Abt the Wii, i only know that the Wii’s failure rate is not outrageous like the 360s. Do u have a link to how the Wii had similar problems to 360?
But anyway none of those failure rates are even worth mentioning in comparison to the 360’s. fact. cheers
JimBob
February 14, 2008 at 23:32
If the Wii had 10% as many failures as the 360, we’d be hearing all about them, considering how well it’s selling.
The 360 is a great platform, but the hardware problems are unacceptable and they’ve really hurt Microsoft’s image in the console market. Trying to pretend that this is not a problem does no good for anyone.
doobiwan
February 15, 2008 at 00:25
No one’s pretending it wasn’t a problem, it was atrocious, no device of any sort should fail as much. A class action law suit wouldn’t be wholly innapropriate.
Fact is it’s been dealt with. There are some duds still in the system and they’ll be addressed. Ask 99% of 360 owners and they’ll still tell you they’re happy they bought it.
Fox1
February 15, 2008 at 09:19
@Tan365. I read that wrong. Okay. Ignored. I get your point. It does suck when it breaks down.
MS did give us a blessing in disguise. I did have my console swapped on the 12th month. The newer consoles have updated hardware, HDMI, cooler temps, better heatsinks, the controllers still rock!
JimBob
February 15, 2008 at 09:49
“No one’s pretending it wasn’t a problem”
I think when people claim to be happy when their 360s break, they are indeed pretending it’s not a problem.
“Whoah, these 360s, they have this great new self-destrucibility feature. It’s awesome…”
Craig
February 15, 2008 at 19:31
Oh come on people! If the Wii had some really good games that actually made the Gamecube hardware actually do some real work then maybe you’d see some failures.
The PS3 is still new in relative terms, its time will come I’m pretty sure about that.
As for the Xbox 360, it might have a “supposed” failure rate of 16% but it also has an awesome immediate swap-out policy in South Africa and an extended 3 year warranty. Not to mention the best and widest games selection, Xbox LIVE, et al. I could list all the awesome features but that would make Gavin’s blog database cry. 😛
Fox1
February 15, 2008 at 19:58
@Craig- Who is Gavin???