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Almost 25% of Xbox 360s Fail Within Two Years, Study Finds

by Caleb Johnson on September 3, 2009 at 08:39 AM


Microsoft's Xbox 360 has earned a dubious place in video game history. Thanks to problems like the infamous Red Ring of Death (RROD), some are calling Microsoft's console the most 'unreliable' ever. Games Beat reports that a study by Square Trade shows that 23.7-percent of Xbox 360s malfunction within the first two years of use. In comparison, the study shows that about 10-percent of Sony Playstation 3 and only 2.7-percent of Nintendo Wii units break down over that period.

Now, it's important to point out that Microsoft dropped about $1.15 billion in 2007, according to Bloomberg, to fix the RROD problems. Still, those problems persisted into 2008, according to Games Beat. Even if we were to ignore the RROD, the Xbox 360's remaining problems would still cause it to fail 11.7-percent of the time -- still more than the PS3 or Wii.

A Microsoft spokesman told Games Beat that the company has extended its warranty to cover the first three years of a console's life, adding, "[We] believe this issue is largely behind us." But that still leaves other issues, such as disc-read errors and freezes, unrectified. Plus, one must wonder, how much of a hit will Microsoft take on future sales due to this bad publicity? If you're shopping for a console, and are without loyalty to a brand, these numbers should be enough to steer you away from an Xbox 360. There's no one to blame but yourselves, Microsoft. [From: Games Beat]

Tags: lemons, microsoft, red ring of death, RedRingOfDeath, top, warranty

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