Failure Rate: Xbox 360 High As 33% - Sony PS3 & Nintendo Wii Less Than 1%

by Chad Lakkis on July 3, 2007 at 11:20 am

Retailers estimate that one in every three Microsoft Xbox 360’s sold fails leaving frustrated owners staring at the red ring of death, or worst a black screen that reads “disc unreadable”. When compared to other systems, former EB games associate Matthiew G said…

“Failure rates for all other consoles were not high enough for EB to consider revising their policies. Most other console systems have a failure rate of less than one percent, including the PlayStation 3.”

Not to be left out of the conversation, when another EB Games manager was asked if the store warranty was “worth the price”, he mentioned that the Nintendo Wii, with hundreds of units sold at their location has had ZERO come back as defective. We can hear Nintendo executives patting themselves on the back right now, no wait that’s just thunder.

A Best Buy associate who chose to remain anonymous claimed that the failure rate of the Microsoft Xbox 360 was in the ballpark of “between a quarter to a third” of the systems sold.

That said the Xbox 360 is the most successful console of the next gen bunch worldwide and has the largest market saturation to date with an impressive list of exclusive titles. Simple mathematics tells us that the more there are out there the more of a chance that some will fail, but 33% is still very high.

Microsoft stands behind their estimate that the Xbox 360 failure rate is within three to five percent, which they believe is well within the industry standard and in 2006 increased their warranty from 90 days up to 1 year. While they stand behind their estimate, it unfortunately does not seem to be accurate according to retailers of the product.

Based on a recent poll that was conducted by DailyTech with retailers nationwide, the Xbox 360 was unanimously named the least reliable gaming console in recent history. The high failure rate of the 360 has sent EB games officials back to the drawing board to revise their console warranty policy in 2007 and as a result the one year warranty price on a console is now nearly double!

“We had 35 Xbox 360s at launch I know more than half of them broke within the first six months (red lights or making circles under the game discs). Two of them were dead on arrival.” - said former EB Games employee Matthieu G.

Microsoft has made an effort in the realm of customer service to address the “ring of death” by adding an option to their customer support line (1-800-4MY-XBOX) called “three flashing red lights”. Those of us that still have the Johnny Cash “Ring Of Fire” parody still stuck in our heads, please try and control yourselves.

So while the 360 is the market leader with the Wii gaining fast, maybe consumers should be giving the Playstation 3 a second or “third” look before picking up a next gen console. While we admit that things are not looking great for Sony right now, the company is not going to roll over and die, Blu-ray is the current market leader, and the Playstation 3’s list of titles will only improve as time goes by and more developers familiarize themselves with it’s specs.

Source: DailyTech

Update: 7/5/07 - 8:20PM EST
Microsoft Responds To Failure Reports - Extends 360 Warranty To 3 Years
While most of the country was celebrating the 4th of July, one has to wonder if Microsoft’s legal department was burning the midnight oil, putting the final touches on new coverage warranty.

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Tags: 3-year-extended-warranty, failure-rate, ring-of-fire

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Comments »

keepingitreel
on July 3, 2007 12:04 pm

And for all the high-falutin talk about the 360 and PS3, the little Wii keeps on plugging along and selling and selling.

Usability is king.
jacksons98
on July 3, 2007 12:28 pm

@keepingitreel Obviously the PS3 is “plugging along” too. The article was about X360 defects, something Wii and PS3 aren’t encountering.
YOUKNOW
on July 3, 2007 6:23 pm

I said it since the beginning. QuALITY NOT QUATITY so good. Let people buy a 360. I got PS3 and Wii. Sony and Nintendo Always delivered what i need. Too bad people dont want to work overtime (if they cant afford it) to get a ps3. Now they will learn spend on cheap and you buy cheap. Spend on expensive you get GRADE A Quality.
YOUKNOW
on July 3, 2007 6:24 pm

GRADE A ********
Bozo
on July 4, 2007 5:55 am

It’s funny that websites like GameSpot don’t mention such news about the Xbox360, while they keep saying “Wii 6:1 PS3″. It just shows how pathetic and biased media they are.
JC
on July 4, 2007 11:45 am

I feel bad for those XB360 fans who have had to go through the microsoft warranty exchange process… it is a painfull one. Where I work it is common to see 1-5 diffective XB360 systems sent back to the warehouse every week. I know fanboy-ism is real and I can understand standing by a product you believe in .. but even the M$ fanboys should be getting a little pissed!
I was one of those people who waited outside in the cold over night to get my hands on a XB360 at launch, unfortunatly it was one that had the ring-o-doom so I returned it.
I ended up buying a PS3 and it is a great machine, very functional. Of course I wish there were more games out for it but I do know starting this money until the end of the year there is a very impressive lineup going to hit.
Back on topic, I do have great respect for Nintendo. Im very happy they are having success with the Wii. The Diffective rate for both PS3 and Wii in my store is around or below 1%.
Massive Failure Rate For Xbox 360 Exposed - Page 4
on July 4, 2007 12:02 pm

[...] inquisitive folks over at Ripten decided to do a little research on the failure rate of current next-gen consoles. Their conclusions [...]
Cat Eye
on July 4, 2007 3:22 pm

History just keeps on looping & this time tapels hav turned to stop on good on somthin & bad on other.Xbox360 is great but only if Microsoft didn’t rush…they say (The faster u go the more accidents u make) & thats wat microsoft did in long term…the PS3 did but in short term cuz theyv released the BEAST wounded ((no games)) but it still can be cured…& as for the Wii it was a good fighter,fast,strong but its already started to get tired.Anyway Xbox360 was a perfect lap rat for both Sony & Wii for a whole year thats y they both got low failing rates.however 360 is still the tough long term competitor for all next gen consoles.

Nice topic Mad Gamer…but watch it…fan boys about to attack.

(its not a war…its a challenge between three great game consoles…pleas dont mistake like Fan Boys)
B Maximus
on July 4, 2007 3:47 pm

you have to understand that the 360 has been out for a year longer too, thus more damaged systems. just wait till the ps3 has been out for the same period of time and then we’ll talk stats and figures. I owned a ps2 and it worked fine until my warranty ran out….

by the way, I am not a fanboy of anykind neither of these companies are paying me to play their systems!!!
Bozo
on July 4, 2007 4:50 pm

30% of the sold Xbox360 is equal to 3.3 Million units that are broken down! 3.3 Million!!!
To see that huge number means that the problem isn’t due to bad operation condition or use, it’s due to a desgin error. Something wrong with the white box itself. That’s why I think Microsoft brought the xbox360 back to the drawing board. The result was a more improved and maybe a more “reliable” product “The Elite”.

I understand that the Xbox360 has been out for a year longer than the Wii and the PS3, but it doesn’t tell you anything but only one thing, that the Xbox360 is unreliable and the other 2 system are yet to be tested.
It doesn’t give or take anything from the Xbox360 if the other 2 systems turn to be as bad in reliability, which I doubt.

Anyone can tell me which xbox360 fails the most? is it the one with no hard drive or the 20GB. Has the Elite version of the xbox360 broken down yet? is it a certain batch with a certain serial number? it is the one runs on a SDTV or a HDTV?
$599 US Dollars » Blog Archive » Failure rate of PS3 is less than 1%. Failure rate of 360: 33%
on July 4, 2007 7:55 pm

[...] Xbox 360 33% failure rate [...]
JC
on July 4, 2007 8:47 pm

Yes the XB360 has been out for longer, the fact their diffective rate has not declined in two years means something!! Most launch systems have issues but the xb360 has been out for almost two years and their diffective rate has only declined by very little. This might sound rash, I believe electronic companies should be held accountable!! I believe in any region the diffective rate is above 25% there should be a recall.
It realy is a shame the xb360 hardware sucks because their software is good.
chase
on July 4, 2007 11:25 pm

i love the playstation i went 2 a friend house he was playing gear of war it looked so good i went out got an xbox360 2 month later red ring i took it back got my cash back if a system cant last 3 months theres something wrong i will never buy any kind of xbox shit again i dont care what game they come out with
PlayStation3Trailers.com » Blog Archive » Store managers detail PS3 failure rate at less than 1%
on July 4, 2007 11:28 pm

[...] inquisitive folks over at Ripten decided to do a little research on the failure rate of current next-gen consoles. Their conclusions [...]
A Gamer
on July 5, 2007 1:53 am

Well the truth’s finally out, and Microsoft is still trying to keep it quiet. I can’t beleive they haven’t made a statement yet, if not about this, then about the new heatsinks they’ve been puting in refurb units. I wonder if the Elite has this new type of heatsink as well?
daniel
on July 5, 2007 2:14 am

hey, i have a problem, i live in Mexico and i have the three red ligths, does that numbe aplies for Mexico also?
PS3Information.net » Blog Archive » Store managers detail PS3 failure rate at less than 1%
on July 5, 2007 3:02 am

[...] inquisitive folks over at Ripten decided to do a little research on the failure rate of current next-gen consoles. Their conclusions [...]
JC
on July 5, 2007 3:42 am

I think that Matt is right… in fact I know Matt is right. Im not saying Im an EB games employee whos knows him or anything… but its true. Its gotten to the point when a customer who is interested in buying a xb360 comes into the location, I mention.. are you sure.. why not buy a ps3..

To be fair and just. Ive worked in the retail environment for a very long time and every customer service rep knows they want to sell the very best product to your customer insuring customer satifaction and building repore to insure the return customer/sale. That being said.. I as a sales associate know that if I sell a xb360 there is a very strong chance this person could come back and ask me if I knew about these problems and never buy off me again. I just inform each and ever customer the facts and let them decide.
Im not a fanboy, I just believe in products that work for my customers!
PreOrderPlayStation3.net » Blog Archive » Store managers detail PS3 failure rate at less than 1%
on July 5, 2007 4:16 am

[...] inquisitive folks over at Ripten decided to do a little research on the failure rate of current next-gen consoles. Their conclusions [...]
Console Failure Rates: Sony And Nintendo For The Win
on July 5, 2007 6:17 am

[...] Failure Rate: Xbox 360 High As 33% - Sony PS3 & Nintendo Wii Less Than 1% [Ripten] tr { border: 0px } td { cellborder: 10px} table { border: 1px solid black } [...]
Dux
on July 5, 2007 6:22 am

Yes, I also feel bad about XBOX360 fanboys who are playing all these games that keep coming. What a waste of time. Me, I have a PS3 and 3 games that I’ve finished a couple a months ago. My PS3 is lying under my plasma TV because there are no more games to buy (only crap). But hey, who cares? I am so proud that PS3 failure rate is less than 1% (I wonder how good is a machine that stays un-plugged all the time and still manage to have 1% failure rate).
PS3Graphic.com » Blog Archive » Store managers detail PS3 failure rate at less than 1%
on July 5, 2007 7:06 am

[...] inquisitive folks over at Ripten decided to do a little research on the failure rate of current next-gen consoles. Their conclusions [...]
MRinQ
on July 5, 2007 8:16 am

@Dux

All sarcasm aside, let us know how you feel when you are on your third Xbox 360.
Dux
on July 5, 2007 8:42 am

I am on my first XBOX360, my first PS3, my first PSP, etc…. I know how to deal with electronics and I know what ventilation means. I dont put them in the drawer, I dont pour water or other liquids on them, and I sure dont spin them in the air while still powered. Of course it is sarcasm, but I have too many unfinished games on XBOX360 while my PS3 is covering with dust (which I remove, of course). I prefer to spend one month playing and two week waiting my XBOX360 coming back from repairing then playing one month and then 8 month looking at my PS3. Also, the price for a lot of XBOX360 games is now so low that I can really afford to buy a new XBOX360 Core every 4 or 5 games. (ex. play-asia)
You really missed the point: whats the use for such great piece of hardware if you cant have fun. At least you can have fun with XBOX360.
bobo
on July 5, 2007 10:48 am

“Also, the price for a lot of XBOX360 games is now so low that I can really afford to buy a new XBOX360 Core every 4 or 5 games.”

buy are new system??? I dont care how cheap the games are, im buying a console not a disposable lighter. Id rather have something dependable
Tom
on July 5, 2007 11:04 am

“Simple mathematics tells us that the more there are out there the more of a chance that some will fail, but 33% is still very high.”

Er, no. If you’re talking probability, as long as you’ve got a reasonable sample (say, a thousand or ten thousand — far fewer than any of these consoles has sold), you’re going to be within the ballpark of the actual failure rate. If you have 1000, and 300 fail, the real failure rate is quite probably close to 30%.

If there is any difference in the failure rates that is at all related to the number of consoles shipped, it is likely that as consoles sell more units, their manufacturers have more time and experience tuning the manufacturing process and more chances to fix mistakes.
chase
on July 5, 2007 11:16 am

i had 2 xbox360 fail on me there something wrong i refuse 2 buy another 360
valmorian
on July 5, 2007 11:18 am

“Simple mathematics tells us that the more there are out there the more of a chance that some will fail, but 33% is still very high.”

Simple mathematics also tells us that 33% is a RATIO. Seriously, how in the world did this get by?
Truten
on July 5, 2007 11:21 am

Really folks XBOX Live is the best online gaming experience I have every had.. The games on the system are fantastic.. But what is the use of having an awsome gaming system when every time you go to turn it on you are crossing your fingers hoping that you don’t get the red rings of death. That was me.. Until my 360 finally died :(
Now I have a PS3 and the games are begining to flow..
Failure Rate Sony PS3 Less Than 1pct at
on July 5, 2007 1:24 pm

[...] ripten.com:[QUOTE]Retailers estimate that one in every three Microsoft Xbox 360’s sold fails leaving [...]
Skip
on July 5, 2007 1:28 pm

It is very obvious that 360 will have more issues then anyone else, they have been out for longer, alot longer. Also, sooooooooo many more people purchased the 360 as opposed to the PS3. Wii is not even close with the processing power as 360 or PS3 so there is really nothing to compare. Wii most definitely kicks ass.
PlayStationVideoGames.net » Blog Archive » Store managers detail PS3 failure rate at less than 1%
on July 5, 2007 2:22 pm

[...] inquisitive folks over at Ripten decided to do a little research on the failure rate of current next-gen consoles. Their conclusions [...]
chase
on July 5, 2007 2:32 pm

so your saying because there making so many its ok that 30% of the 360 burn out
the ps2 over 100 million sold and maybe 5% burned out
theres something wrong microsoft who’s willing 2 roll the dice on spending 300 or 400 dollars if the life span 3 to 6 months long not me
B
on July 5, 2007 2:40 pm

Microsoft likes to sell bad products. Like vista, and now the now member, the xbox.

PS: How is the elite doing in failure rates?
The Smart One
on July 5, 2007 2:59 pm

some have said the reason for this is because the 360 has been out for so long, which is why there are more that get returned. that doesnt even matter when at launch they were getting returned. PS3’s and Wiis have had minimal problems. The only defective thing on Wii was the wrist strap for the controllers.
Mrbiggbrain
on July 5, 2007 3:39 pm

The 360 has had more problems then is worth it. its ridiculous that at ANY point a console should have a 33% failure rate.

if i bought a cars been out for 2 years and the salesmen said…

Salesman: its got leather seats, a 33% failure rate within the first 3 months, heated and cooled cup holders.

me: what???

Salesman: Heated and cooled cupholders.

me: no the other thing.

Salesman:leather seats?

me: show me something else.

salesman: well theres this one, its 8 months old, its got a 1% failure rate.

id preaty much pick the second car. its a no brainer. 360’s break in 6 months. so if the PS3 had the same problem, wouldn’t see have seen it in its 8 months of service? i can just see a 360 fan screaming “ha i told you so!” 12 years from now when PS3’s begin to break. “screw you sony! 90% failure rate within the first 12 years!”
TheD
on July 5, 2007 3:51 pm

You also have to take into account the fact that EB Games/Gamestop’s warranty system is basically over the counter. Many people simply took in their 364 day old system at the end of a 1yr warranty, and exchanged it for a new one. EB Games ships the consoles to their own repair warehuose for refurbishment, then re-sell back to consumers. So data from stores that takes returns in this manner is really not reliable for a survey on ‘rate of failure’.
TheD
on July 5, 2007 3:55 pm

….. so by Christmas 2007 the PS3 and Wii ‘Failure Rates’ based on returns to EBGames/Gamestop will be similar tot he 360 numbers you see now.
Pimprovize
on July 5, 2007 3:56 pm

Mrbiggbrain,

Alright dog, I feel ya. But what if the salesman said that only 10% of the roads in the country support your car?
Bozo
on July 5, 2007 4:19 pm

Sony have longer history with gaming console, they know how to make them and they have a good taste for games. Sadly for Microsoft their hardwares are as good as their softwares, full of holes and bugs, Ironically Microsoft can’t solve xbox360 defects through the internet since they are hardware related problems, which is something Microsoft never faced and are not prepared for.
Anyway, games are coming to the PS3 this summer,, just watch E3 it will be as soon as 07/10/2007, by this christmas I think Sony will have a good library of games for their PS3. while the rate of failure for Xbox360 will reach 80%
PS3 Failure Rate Less Than One Percent? at H4CKER.cc
on July 5, 2007 4:56 pm

[...] Failure Rate [via Digg] [...]
nice
on July 5, 2007 4:58 pm

as of oct. ps3 will start its climb to the top and 360 will start it decent.
Wayne
on July 6, 2007 4:20 am

I own a X360, it’s 1 years old and it’s still running fine. Perhaps it’s the way I use it.

First of all, I have additional cooling fan, nyko installed. Next, it’s place under an old coffee able with zero obstruction around it. maybe due to the fact that I’m a working adult with wife and a kid. i don’t spend alot of time on the X360. I only use it a few hours a few time a week. max is 6 hrs in 1 go. Sometimes I can leave it alone, not touching it for weeks. Perhaps that explain the longevity of my x360. In my opinion, it’ the xbox live capability that makes me decide on buying a x360.Xbox live contribut 40% to the decision.

As for the PS 3, I not touching it until much later date. They must solve the pricing and games issue first. PS3 games may look crappy, especially the first few release. but as the capbilities of the PS3 is more utilised, I beleive it will improve more. Also, the amount of games available now in my opinion is just patthetic. Again, will have to wait till they have more games available. Finally. The controller. Hopefullythey do something to their controller. Most of us have use PS1 and ps2 controller before. Don’t think it’s a good design. The X360 controller is just nice.
Truten
on July 6, 2007 11:03 am

Well, looks like they finally admitted to their crappy hardware.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/801/801684p1.html
The Mad Gamer
on July 6, 2007 12:13 pm

Truten,

Yes, Microsoft did respond to the hardware issues that consumers were having and we published a story about it yesterday as well which you can read by clicking here.

However there are some important things that current owners need to know, such as how and when their extended warranty rights take effect and what exactly Microsoft will cover retroactively in terms of expenses incurred by the consumer for past repairs.

Mad-
GAMER.BLORGE.com » Blog Archive » PS3 and Wii failure rate less than 1%
on July 6, 2007 3:59 pm

[...] Wii and PS3 on the other hand are so reliable that no price increase was necessary and reports say that Sony [...]
braydon
on July 6, 2007 4:34 pm

I got the xbox 360 when it came out and i leave mine on 24/7 the only time it isnt on is when the power goes out i still havent had any problems with it at all i play it around 4 hours a day and its still kicking it is all in how it is handled mine hasnt moved sense i got it home and hooked it up
Wiiha! » QuickJump QuickPeek Issue # 02: Of sentient beings, console failure rates, and a hero’s farewell
on July 7, 2007 8:00 pm

[...] would be if the latter’s failure rate is as efficient as the PS3’s. That’s right, based from a study done with Store Managers used as samples, the failure rate for PS3 is less than 1 . That’s just [...]
Xbox360 elite .org
on July 7, 2007 8:27 pm

[...] would be if the latter’s failure rate is as efficient as the PS3’s. That’s right, based from a study done with Store Managers used as samples, the failure rate for PS3 is less than 1 . That’s just [...]
PS3ScreenShot.com » Blog Archive » Store managers detail PS3 failure rate at less than 1%
on July 7, 2007 9:46 pm

[...] inquisitive folks over at Ripten decided to do a little research on the failure rate of current next-gen consoles. Their conclusions [...]
PS3 World » Blog Archive » QuickJump QuickPeek Issue # 02: Of sentient beings, console failure rates, and a hero’s farewell
on July 7, 2007 10:39 pm

[...] would be if the latter’s failure rate is as efficient as the PS3’s. That’s right, based from a study done with Store Managers used as samples, the failure rate for PS3 is less than 1 . That’s just [...]
Fido
on July 20, 2007 7:46 pm

rrriiiggghhhttt…….you guys really have nothing to do in your live do you? Just buy the one you like and HOPE to God it won’t heat up crash and that kinda stuff
XbOx 360Z oWn!!!
on July 24, 2007 4:57 pm

Halo 3 this September!!! And also, my 360s a year old about and Its never had the three red lights, i always treat it right i give it breaks, i never block the fans, i make sure nothings crowding it. Do you think i got a good chance of my 360 not breaking?
irishmike75
on August 6, 2007 4:43 pm

just sent my 360 back for the second time . red ring of ass. it sucks cause i really do like it
is the ps3 worth it? - Page 10 - PSPMod.com - Sony PSP Mod & Hacks Forums
on August 9, 2007 3:38 pm

[...] in the numbers that xboxs fail, and STILL fail. i have many friends with xboxs, so i would know. Failure Rate: Xbox 360 High As 33% - Sony PS3 & Nintendo Wii Less Than 1% | ripten all i have to say. [...]
hsh.dbho.biz.tm » Blog Archive » PS3 Failure Rate Less Than One Percent?
on August 11, 2007 12:46 am

[...] Failure Rate [via digg] [...]
jimmie
on August 26, 2007 11:47 pm

http://www.xboxdummy.com fixed my console and it works great. They also added a fan too…
Store managers detail PS3 failure rate at less than 1% « Playstation 3 News
on October 3, 2007 5:44 am

[...] read more | digg story [...]
MikeBrady
on October 7, 2007 1:14 am

Hold On…

XBox gets returned to the store when it fails. The WII goes back directly to Nintendo when it fails. It’s written in bold letters on the Owners Manual. So now that my Wii has failed after 11 days (just wouldn’t go past the Health and Safety warning screen), I have to box it up and ship it out to Nintendo postage paid.

Bottom line, any store employees who quotes failure rates amongst the three machines have no idea what number of Wii’s are going back because they never see the defective units. Not saying the 360 doesn’t have a high defect rate, but you can’t write an article making a comparison without having the requisite data in hand.

BTW, Wii=FUN…I learned that much in the 10 days the wife and I used it. Can’t wait to get it back repaired.
Ivan
on October 12, 2007 7:02 am

I had all of my three xbox360 brokendown but my PS3!!!! works perfectly fine.
O’Brien
on October 17, 2007 5:47 pm

So… I bought an 360 early last month while i was in NY visiting my family. Now yesterday i was playing FIFA 07 and only to see the screen frozen. When i rebooted it. I saw one red light blinking on the power thing. Now I am from Jamaica and i called MS and they’re saying that i can’t send in my 360 from Jamaica. They told me what’s the problem after talking to them for like an hour. The hard driver failed. I love XBOX and MS, but they have to put their act together.
Dustin
on November 14, 2007 2:37 pm

Like what was said earlier…30% failure rate is a ratio, and with all of the systems being out for a decent time, the failure rate should be pretty accurate as to how reliable all of the systems are.

Secondly, the “Pricing” issue with the PS3 isn’t really an issue…The PS3 is the cheapest blu-ray player that you can buy. And for those of you that say “it’s only blu-ray, nothing special” Youdon’t know much about blu-ray do you. blu-ray allows for better graphics quality than hd-dvd (which is falling to the wayside), because video and audio doesn’t need to be compressed to fit. It also allows for better in movie menues (rather than leaving the movie when going to the menus, the movie continues playing and the menu comes up around it). The biggest DVD manufacturer isn’t making HD-DVD’s anymore, they’re going to blu-ray for just that reason. The 360 is very expensive for what you get. The PS3 has better hardware (which also doesn’t fail like the 360), blu-ray which needs no extra stuff to play movies (360 requires a $150 HD-DVD player to play movies), Sony doesn’t charge for there online gaming (XBox live isn’t bad, my friend had it on his 360, which is gone now, but it’s not worth spending extra money to be able to use it).
biz is winning
on November 19, 2007 5:29 pm

the ps2 is the best system of all time.7 years and still going strong.
Kamran
on January 7, 2008 1:53 pm

Microsft have resolved the over heating problem by installing two cooling fans instead of 1. The 1st bach that came out had 1 cooling fan but that wasn’t good enough and units kept over heating which resulted in Hardware Failure (Red rings). But the new bach have got 2 cooling fans and also i think the warrenty has been extended to 3 years. 360 Live is the best and also it has better games.
vitalme
on January 15, 2008 4:41 pm

I must say that the XBOX 360 ELITE is trash. I’ve only had it for about a month an a half and I already have the “RED RING of DEATH”. I’ve never in all my life had a product mess up in a month. TRASH is the only legal word I can share with you guys. I’ve had a SNES thats still works after 10 YEARS. I own both XBOX 360 ELITE and a Wii. Out of personal experience the ELITE is a true “brick”.
P.S. It will take half a month to get it back. Vitalme kicks but in HALO 3. 1/15/2008
Matthew
on February 17, 2008 5:14 am

It’s silly how Sony fan boys love to bite on Microsofts bad bunch of Xbox 360 consoles.

Microsoft are fixing the problem so we’ve got nothing to worry about. Just wait until the PS3 has faults with it and you’ve got to replace your console. Sony made a huge mistake by removing the abitity to play PS2 and PS1 games.

At least the Xbox 360 lets you play old console games.

And for a fact the Xbox 360 failure rate is 5%.

With the PS3 failure rates you have to REPLACE the whole console it can’t be fixed!!!

So much for Sony’s mega console with no problems hahah

Stupid fan boys.

I’ve played both consoles I favour the Xbox 360 over the PS3, has more games, point rewards to unlock which is pretty cool.
LC
on February 17, 2008 7:51 am

nice facts.
Dieter Weber
on February 18, 2008 4:37 am

The Xbox is a far better console.
Ben
on February 19, 2008 12:43 am

Great facts Matthew and so true. I also have to agree how Sony fan boys jump at the chance to defame the Xbox 360.

I sold my PS3 for a Xbox 360 for so many reaons. I didn’t care about the blu-ray or HD-DVD crap or the stuff in side. I just care about which console can give me my gaming live and that is the Xbox 360.

It won’t be long until the PS3 burns and Sony fan boys will be making up some excuse for Sony’s failure.
tim
on February 28, 2008 12:39 am

wow…………some of u actually think the ps3 is better…….360 has much much better graphics and many games including 1 of the best games ever made GEARS OF WAR and soon GEARS OF WAR 2 are sold only on the xbox 360 so u can spend 400 and get trash games with the ps3 or spend 380 and get better graphics and better games FOR LESS MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and its not like sony is perfect in fact i had 3 ps2 and many pple i no had there ps2 broken it took sony 5 years when the ps3 came out 2 figue out how 2 make systems that dont break xbox is figured it out afta 2 years and there systme is more complex
xbox fan
on March 12, 2008 10:47 am

i have recently purchased an xbox 360 console and i have absolutely no problems with it.doesn’t even get heated up.and no singn of the red ring of light.it surely is the best console
Curtis
on April 2, 2008 5:49 am

After owning mine with zero problems since May 2007 I was finally struck down by the 3 red flashing lights of death and got me the xbox cardboard coffin, and WOW I got it back in quick order too.
TOO BAD that I only got to use it for 6 hours before the red lights appeared.
As of now I am waiting for my second carboard coffin and I am far less then happy about this. Honestly after this and how Microsoft kept there two problems secret for as long as they could doesn’t create any trust with them, so to date this is my last Microsoft product.
jolle
on April 4, 2008 4:07 am

Yes high falure rate on the xbox, but the PS3 I just use when the xbox is gone for repairs. Its boring compared to the xbox with xbox live etc..
R Frost
on April 23, 2008 10:55 pm

I can’t believe how everyone has turned this into a pissing contest…

FACT: The 360 has the upper hand in terms of games and street life. Obviously there are some hardware problems, which more or less are being dealt with.

FACT: In terms of both units, the PS3 is a more sleek, quieter, and well thought out machine. Unfortunately, by luck of the draw, the XBox has had more exposure, and via financial clout, more exclusives than the PS3.

FACT: I love ‘em both…although I have a LOT of reservations about purchasing a 360 (I’ve previously borrowed…) The last thing I need is a console that full of bugs…and if it was a Sony product, I’d be bashing it in the same way. Sometimes slow and easy wins the race…

So let’s lose the childish banter…and just play the REAL games instead of inventing our own…
Jimbo
on May 11, 2008 8:25 pm

First of all lets set things strait. . . the 360 only has a 16% failure rate, which includes a brand new Xbox360 for FREE. . while the PS3 has a failure rate of nearly 6%, and quickly on the rise, as more and more consoles are finding bugs and problems. Just look on eBay and see how many PS3’s are being sold because of malfunctions. As well, the Wii is not much better either, as far as overall sucess with sales as well as performance. The Wii is a complete bust in gaming consoles. Sure people bought it, but soon to find out there are absolutely nothing but piss poor games for people to buy. I have interviewed numerous people with the Nintendo Wii, saying they simply wish they have never bought the console, due to the lack of good games and support.

So in the long run, I would much rather have the Xbox 360 over the competitors consoles, for the sake of quality (including free repair/console replacement) of the system which neither of the competitors offer (Sony needs to start offering some support for the broken ones soon or their going to have their own little blog like this).
Mrbiggbrain
on May 12, 2008 10:33 am

the ps3’s failure rate is .6% not 6% and given most electronics have a 5% failure rate even 6% would have been on average…but .6% is superb.
Patrick Steen
on May 12, 2008 11:29 am

Yes i was under the impression PS3 and Wii failure rate was in the 0.x range, as stated in the article. And Jimbo I would be very surprised if someone was selling a console on ebay because it had “issues” - at least they wouldn’t admit it, otherwise they’d get no sale.

Moreover, you’d have to see over 120,000 PS3’s being sold on ebay for the same reason to prove the PS3 has a failure rate of 1%…let alone 6%. What would help is to provide souces.
LC
on May 12, 2008 3:37 pm

lol quality and xbox don’t a proper sentence make. 16% failure rate? sure with the current revision maybe and that’s 15% to high. If you followed game news or even this particular story you’d know these are old figures based on launch hardware’s incredibly high failure rate, check the date of post you may notice this was posted before the falcon revision.

Truth is all launch hardware is defective, poor design and a rush to the market crippled quality control that by now has been proven to have not been part of the 360 creation process.

If you hurry you can go find the 360 launch article and declare it victory and unveil the dirty truth from the future, sony sucks.
eagleboy68
on June 1, 2008 1:22 am

ok i personally cannot stand microsoft theyre garbage i got a box in from microsoft and on the label on the box it said “batch 456 of 1750″ if that means how many sets of boxes were sent out then they need to take theyre console and shove it up theyre scrawny little ass GO SONY IM PICKING ONE UP FIRST THING IN THE MORNING CANT WAIT
Mark
on June 8, 2008 10:27 pm

I am a fan of Playstation. I just hate how all of these fan boys pick on these systems. Its stupid, do they have anything better to do. I have nothing against Xbox and Microsoft i just think its funny how people pick sides, its kinda stupid if you think about it.
NFS crazie
on June 20, 2008 5:27 pm

I got my Wii in june 2007, and sent it back in june 2008 (this month) to nintendo because it wasn’t reading a games sometimes (getting either “disc cannot be read” or “error has occured, remove game”) on DBZ tenkaichi 3, super smash bros. brawl, NFS pro street, lego star wars, wwe smackdown vs. raw 08, you get the point. i sent my Wii in, and got the disc drive replaced for no charge, not even shipping, and got it back in 12 days
BR1GoaYoda
on August 6, 2008 10:12 pm

this goes to skip on i think it was jul 5 2007 or 2008? im not sure butt.. ? yes they are going to have a higher failure rate and not just because they were out a “year” earlier? doesnt that show you that they rushed themselves into a new console? i mean the original xbox wasnt even out that long before they got the 360 development going? if we are going to talk about that then hows about we talk about ps2 vs xbox. ps2 had like a 5% failure rate in its many years in front of xbox and not to mention xbox had a higher failure rate and wasnt out as long. i think this is going to be repetitive
Shawn
on August 13, 2008 1:10 am

Ugh… I’m tired of all these people putting there 2 cents in about their awesome xbox 360’s and how their console reigns supreme. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve played the 360, and yes it IS a great system. The controller feels natural and the selection of games is great, heck even the graphics are close to ps3, but please weigh the facts before you make an irrational decision like I was about to.
Okay, so you walk into a store and say “hey can I pick up a 360 for $300.” If you care about your console you’ll buy another support fan ($25) and EVENTUALLY you’ll end up spending $50+ for XBOX LIVE if you like live, (which is an awesome experience and you probably should buy it). Okay so you’re sitting at potentially $375. Great.
Now I walk into a store and say “hey Can I buy a PS3 for $400 please?
Employee: OH, the PS3? and for just $25 more We’d like to give you a 32-29% failure decrease, saved time from trying to get MS to fix your console, a free blu-ray player added on, a free wifi connection built in and most importantly free online play. Oh wait there’s more, slightly better graphics also, potentially much better graphics later on, and a web browser? It’s pretty much a multimedia machine actually..
Me: “Ok I’ll pay the extra $25.”
I don’t have any loyalty to either company but don’t no-brainer decisions seem the most obvious?
cpuwiz922
on August 18, 2008 1:07 pm

YOUKNOW, It doesn’t matter how hard some people work anything above $200 is way to much to pay for a videogame console. Also, some of us will always be third-class poor blue collar workers who have to live from check to check and will never be able to afford anything expensive.
cpuwiz922
on August 18, 2008 1:19 pm

Dustin, The average person doesn’t give all that big of a shit over Blu-Ray or HD-DVD or all this High Definition bullshit. Its the gameplay and the overall enjoyability. Have you ever played Resident Evil 4 on the Wii? I must say that thanks to the control scheme it far outdoes any other port of RE. All because of the gameplay and experience offered by the new control scheme
Shawn
on August 26, 2008 11:02 pm

you know what, screw it. They’re both fun. Case closed.
Connor
on September 3, 2008 5:45 pm

Well, my xBox360 has broken within the last hour. That dreaded ring of death. What doesn’t help is that it’s outside of its warranty.

Onto the failure rates, 7 of the 9 of my friends who own a 360 have had it sent back for repair because of either a faulty disc drive, an unknown problem or what we call the matrix! (That what usually happens when the graphics card fails) or the ring of death.

Now, take a look at the odds above….that a 63% failure rate, include myself and that brings it up to 70%.

I’m sorry but Microsoft in the recent years have got it into their heads that they can get away with selling unsuitable goods to the public. Just take a look at how Vista has turned out (to be honest it has improved of late) we cannot afford to just throw away a £300 console and buy a new one. My suspicion is that this is where they make the money.

I’m off Xbox for life, tomorrow I’m going to sell the lot of games, and accessories I collected over the 18 month life of my console.

The play station 2 never let me down, and the ps3 is calling……..!

Sony takes their time with their products, and I feel that the ps3 has had some bad press because of its late arrival. To be honest, isn’t that a god-send for it to be late? So what if their production was producing so many faults that they had to hold it back a few months, they would have scrapped the dodgy ps3’s or re-worked them. It just shows that they care about the hardware they produce for our entertainment and Nintendo too.

All I have to say is:

Microsoft……UP YOURS!!!
Big-B
on November 15, 2008 2:31 pm

Both consoles are as good as each other , if you like the 360 then instead of wasting time arguing on here then go and play on it , the same goes for the ps3 fans.If your console is that good then why waste time on here when you could be gaming lol
Stu@HMVGsy
on January 5, 2009 3:37 pm

Well, we are now a year and a half or so further on from this and I can say with all the confidence of a console retailer who has sold over 1000 PS3s that SONY are talking utter bollocks. Sure, the initial batch of PS3s may have been fantastic, but oh how they succumbed to the same problems as Microsoft.

Perhaps they should call it ‘difficult second’ syndrome or something. The majority of faulty 360s seemed to be those made in the second major batch run after initial component modifications. SONY, however, seem to have gone and given Europe less of an offer with the newer PS3s and a truck load of extra bugs to happen.

I’ll admit I found this article after some research for a friend who had recently replaced his 40gb console with an 80gb model because it had stopped reading discs returned a copy of Fallout 3 as that disc wasn’t working either. He phoned this evening to let me know that this disc could’t be read either… nor could any of his other games.

Sadly, while this is the first case of a repeat failure I’ve pesonally dealt with, we currently have the same amount of faulty PS3s (of varying SKUs) as Xbox 360s sat in our stockroom waiting to return to their respective companies. Of the top of my head, at least 3 of the PS3s have discs stuck inside them. This isn’t merely a blip or a seasonal thing either, and while I’m not exactly keeping accurate figures on me, I can say quite confidently that while the exact numbers fluctuate, the two consoles are as bad as each other in terms of going bust.

SO, my view on the general opinion of 360 being less reliable than PS3 is that it is completely unfounded, and one of the last rhetorics of defiance reeled off by SONY fan-boys. Yeah, my own 360 stopped working (the ‘ring of death’ is a feedback mechanism to tell you that the machine suffering a fault, not a cause in itself by the way) a couple of months ago, and as it was bought way back at the original launch, it was about 2 years out of warranty, but so what? A new Arcade costs less than a Wii (as does the Pro now), and the old hard-drive and cables can still be used without hassle, and its HDMI compatible, so its not like I had to fork out £300 for it and lost all my game saves, downloaded GH tracks and other stuff like most PS3 faulty owners do, and I havn’t lost any functionality like those guys who bought a 60gb, had it low up, and then found out they had lot a bunch of useful ports when they replaced it with a 40 or 80gb.

Yes, the HD Drive is removable in PS3 too, I know that, but the vast majority of console owners are not hyper-clued up about this kind of thing, and just end up losing everything. Fact is, what may have been the case of the unbreakable PS3 back in the 60gb days is long gone.

The reality is, PS3 breaks down as much as 360 does. Its just SONY’s PR department is much better at covering up the truth than Microsoft’s was, and as the newer of the two consoles, is less likely to grab headlines about it because we’ve all seen it before with 360 anyway and its no longer news.

Oh, and it seems the kind, helpful people that first staffed SONY’s Customer service center for the UK have either been promoted off or left, cause they are as bad, if not worse than MS’s now to boot.

So, don’t let fan-boys make your decisons for you. Simple fact is this, if you are unsure which console to buy, and aren’t in it for playing Halo 3 online, Call of Duty in high def, or Little Big Planet… buy a Wii, currently the LEAST faulty console of the three.

And that advice comes from someone who exists on the frontlines of faulty console returns.

Enjoy.

Stu
HMV Guernsey Games Expert.
Stu@HMVGsy
on January 5, 2009 3:47 pm

Apologies, keyboard’s old. Should read “who bought a 60gb, had it Blow up, and then found out they had loSt a bunch of useful ports when they replaced it with a 40 or 80gb.”

Sorry for the typos, they confuse the issue slightly.
Fuck Xbox360 for real. « The Onslaught
on January 22, 2009 4:00 pm

[...] Also, info from http://www.ripten.com/2007/07/03/failure-rate-xbox-360-high-as-33-sony-ps3-less-than-1/ [...]
Daniel
on February 7, 2009 10:53 am

I have a playstaion 3 and it is a great console. The wii I have played on and, yes it is fun until your arms feel like falling off. As for the xbox 360, as good as it is the high failure rate should be reconised and delt with.

I spend too long with my fingers crossed will playing xbox.
Stu@HMVGsy
on February 8, 2009 4:21 pm

Well, the problem HAS been recognised. Anyone who feels like they should comment in a way that suggests it hasn’t should probably note the ‘2007′ date in the original post.

Like I’m saying, times have changed. You are now going to have to cross your fingers and pray that your PS3 doesn’t break down just as much as you would 360 (and if you havn’t been a muppet and still have all the original packaging and the receipt, you usually get a year’s warranty at the store you bought it from so just go get it replaced.)

Wii remains the clear leader in terms of console reliability, followed shortly by DS.

Will be interesting, however, given the recent trend of PS3 disc-drive issues, to see if this situation gets better in the coming year. 360 failure has improved a lot as well, so all to lay for now.
Daniel
on February 9, 2009 10:41 am

True,too much fighting over which console is best, it realy is annoying. If you like ps3 fine, if you prefer Xbox fine. As for wii no one argues about that, it’s weird.

O’well, Happy gaming(hopefully)
Kev
on March 1, 2009 8:45 am

It has not been fixed. My elite died last week. I only had it 1 year and 2 months.

That was also my 9th XBOX 360, I gave up on it, not buying a new one. After 8 repairs Microsoft noticed I had also sold the defective consoles once they came back to me.

They told me, We won’t repair it, we don’t fix E-47 errors which is the card failing - So clearly a graphics error and nothing to do with me.

I used to have a 40GB PS3 also but I traded it for a 80GB one. I’ve never had anything other than a few game freezes on Sony’s console.
Daniel
on March 5, 2009 1:35 pm

a year and 2 months,thats how old my xbox is, hope it doesn’t die……
Killer Star
on March 21, 2009 3:59 pm

Well I own a 360 and have had it for 1 year and 3 months with out any problems at all, but the fact so many problems happen is real shame, especialy for xbox fans like myself, I only play for an hour a time and then leave it for half an hour to cool, yes that may sound weird but it realy helps pro-long your xbox's life.
Matt
on May 24, 2009 3:46 pm

Hello,
Names matt iv owned a ps3 for 2 years and got the YLOD I owned an Xbox 360 and got RROD after 7 months. Point is both systems are made of precise technology that even a simple piece of dust or the smoke of a cigarette can destroy. Both systems are capatilist pigs but the Playstation 3 is WAY more enjoyable. Oh and the average person SHOULD care what they are buying, thats why there are so many IDIOTS in todays society.

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