Ahh, the Xbox 360. it’s a lovely machine, capable of playing some incredible games. Its interface is slick and intuitive, and the underlying software that ties everything to its online experience is without par.
Pity then that its build quality, and indeed general quality of the hardware is appalling. Stupid design decisions and corner cutting measures at fabrication have given the machine legendary status as one that’s rather prone to failure. Many surveys have been conducted – with varying result – to ascertain its failure rate. with Microsoft keeping mum on their return statistics.
This latest survey, conducted by No Fuss Reviews and its satellite sites, purports to have a half-million strong sample – and should allow us to adequately gauge each console’s failure rate.
Unsurprisingly the Xbox 360 had the highest reported failure rate, at an incredible 42%. A further 55% of those respondents claimed to have needed repairs or replacement on their 360’s more than once. Of that 55%, 39% needed a third replacement or repair – which, quite honestly, is rather pathetic.
The other current generation consoles fared much better, and are in line with previous, smaller-scale surveys.
The Playstation 3 only had 8% of respondents claiming Ps3 failure, while less than 1% of Wii owners doing the same – yet another testament to the phenominal build quality of Nintendo hardware.
We’ve asked before – but I’ll ask it again. how many of you are on your 2nd, 3rd, 4th or even 5th or more Xbox 360’s – and how many of you have had to replace your PS3s?
You can see the full results of the survey over at No Fuss Reviews
Last Updated: April 16, 2010
ewiw
April 16, 2010 at 13:15
lets count
1. Import launxh nz console dvd drive broke .
2. Bought a second hand console which broke after 6 months. Exchanged this one for R800
3. Sold exchange unit.
4. Bought elite. Dvd drive broke after 9 months
t. Exchange unit E74
6. Current system.
7. Bought 2 system for lapa . Lightning friedm it so dead art home.
Geoff
April 16, 2010 at 13:27
That’s a heck of a lot of xboxes. :/
WitWolfyZA
April 19, 2010 at 09:27
WOW u really love XBL hey?
spl0it
April 16, 2010 at 13:27
Im on my 4th Xbox 360
Had one since Jan 2007
Jimmytheediblewyrm
April 16, 2010 at 13:34
1. Launch ed console on cell contract, broken disc drive.
2. Replacement console under warranty, RROD.
3. Still going… knock on wood.
Bobby Kotick cares not for those Infinity Ward n00bs
April 16, 2010 at 13:36
I’m on my 4th (and last) at the moment, the first one was a launch box I got while working in the UK. That RRODed after only 4 months. This was before the return policy came into effect, so I bought another one. It failed 5 months later, and I got it replaced with a refurbished console through MS. The refurbished box failed in December last year. I now have an elite (which the wife was kind to surprise me with on my birthday), which I’m expecting will fail in January or February next year. Thereafter I will take all my games either to BT and exchange them for PS3 or even PSP and Wii games.
WitWolfyZA
April 19, 2010 at 09:28
Dude you and me are on the same boat. 4 Xboxes later with 47 Xbox 360 games. One can only take so much failure. my one mate keeps on telling , just trade it in, trade it in… And ill be like … dude… STFU
Bobby Kotick can't handle the failure
April 19, 2010 at 13:04
I know man, I’ve been a gamer since I was in diapers (and I actually love collecting games, much to the wife’s disapproval. My study is literally filled with games), so to be considering trading in my games just doesn’t feel right, but I can’t take the failure any more, luckily most (sigh) of my beloved xbox 360 games I can exchange for their PS3 versions.
It still makes me sad though!
eltonriley
April 16, 2010 at 13:50
I wont even go into my history with failures. If I think back on the frustration, it was horrible. I just hope that since moving over to PS3, I will have better luck.
One thing that Microshaft cannot buy, and thats QUALITY.
ewie
April 16, 2010 at 16:31
My Xbox 1 is still running strong .
Still use it as a media centre. nothing beats it.
WitWolfyZA
April 19, 2010 at 09:29
My PS3 media server beats that thing by far 😉 I barely use my xbox media center anymore.. fun to play emulators on it though
0rk0
April 16, 2010 at 14:07
Still on my first PS3.
Originaly 40 GB model upgraded to 320 GB :w00t:
Been going for 2 years and four months, touching wood…
uberutang
April 16, 2010 at 14:10
Xbox 4 & 6 still alive at home.
Ps3 no 2 alive at home 🙂
NDS 1 & 2 still going strong.
krYtHan
April 16, 2010 at 14:13
On my second now.
Potty391
April 16, 2010 at 14:21
Still on my first since November 2007
WitWolfyZA
April 19, 2010 at 09:30
Stop being in denail!!!! :tongue:
mitas
April 16, 2010 at 15:12
ha ha … lol … here is my 2 cents .
bought one in 2007 for gta IV , lasted till last year may , e73 error got it fixed twice , now its a fancy looking papperweight , ps3 slim going strong no problems ….
ps
my ps2 from 2004 ie god of war 1 , is still going strong no repairs or lazer replacements although these days it struggles to read some dvds 🙁 , otherwise for a consul to last 6 years is amazing , for a consule to last just under 1 year and 11months or so is pretty pathetic , long live sony *cough* i mean quality
DocCox
April 16, 2010 at 16:08
Stangely for me, my xbox has been more reliable than my PS3. On my third PS3 (Both had disk reading problems) and my 2007 xbox failed about a month ago, but thankfully managed to fix that one myself since it was out of warranty.
NATO
April 16, 2010 at 16:37
I’m currently on my second Xbox 360 and my second PS3. Difference is I had to pay to get my PS3 replaced by a refurbished unit, R2300. My Xbox was replaced with a new one at no cost. 😉
Kage
April 16, 2010 at 17:02
NATO, do you think that you got your 360 replaced for nothing because MS love you? The only reason that happened was because they were protecting their own asses from class action lawsuits for a failed product. If the failure rate had been somewhere near normal levels, MS would have never replaced for free and standard warrantees would have applied. So what I’m saying is that the consumer can actually be thankful that MS have no clue how to create reliable hardware.
WitWolfyZA
April 19, 2010 at 09:35
I’m on my 3th Xbox. Had one 60GB HDD fail on me and no one can tell me how to return that either.. they just go all silent when i call the Xbox help line.. and then when i call the place where i bought it.. they also go all silent.
I use to be like PRO XBOX.. nothing could put me off from my precious Xbox console back in 2008.. then in November it failed… I was like .. did i let it fall or something… Second one BAM E74 7 months later.. fixed it and BOOM again E74!
My mom suprized me 3 months later with a new Xbox… im not seeing it growing old with me either.. I give it 8 months more… MAX!
Fox1
April 19, 2010 at 09:54
Try to get a working landline before making calls :tongue:
WitWolfyZA
April 19, 2010 at 12:45
hey dont get smart ass with me LOL :pirate: :pirate:
JXbox
August 27, 2010 at 01:14
I’ve sent back my Xbox360 Elite 3 times since Sept 2008 for the DVD Open Tray issue. Each time, the drive starts not being able to read discs every time, then it gets slowly worse and worse, until it just can’t read any discs anymore. This happens to my Elite consoles every 5-6 months or so.
The first time I had it repaired they sent me back my original console, but the other 2 times I got different refurbs. They have all done the same thing so far, and my current unit is starting to do it as well. I have several friends with 360s and none have had this issue, but I’m the only one who has an Elite. Are they more prone to this problem?
On the third repair I was out of warranty, but I got Microsoft to do it for free because I was having the same problem over and over again, and they even extended my warranty another year. That’s the good news. The bad news is I’m going to need it again. Will my next 360 do this again? Why should I have to put up with a six-month expiration on my console?
AC!D
August 27, 2010 at 02:48
Well there is the new Xbox 360 slim but that just released and you can never be certain it wont have problems down the line because its too early to test failure rates. So you have two choices either get a PS3 since they have basically the same games or take a chance with the new Xbox 360 slim. I doubt the new slim will have the same problems though so you should be ok if you go down that route.
john
August 29, 2010 at 17:08
you’re an idiot
xbox360 ftw
November 15, 2010 at 17:50
if you send your xbox360 back in twice they would send you a new thats how i know your lieing
Z!!!
January 9, 2011 at 20:52
Thats gotta be the biggest ring of denial I’ve ever heard ftw. I only bought one 360. When it died they wouldn’t replace it, so I fixed it myself. Ran ok with a 20 inch fan on top of it for about 6 months, then it was E-74 time. At that point the 360 had more value to me as a frisbee, so I never bought another one. How one goes from console wars champion and gaming titan to the world’s most expensive doorstop is beyond me…