Xbox 360's Death Rate is 54.2%

[mattttherman3]

Why more 360's break is simple, they havn't fixed the problem, if you send your xbox in, they send you a new one, i've had 2 360's fail on me, i had to get the second one fixed through a local guy instead of sending it to microsoft, it was cheaper, my buddy has had 3 fail on him. I play a lot more than most people do but still, original Nintendo 64's still run, so whats the deal?

 

[Zetona]

All those figures seem awfully high. For a "reliable" device to fail almost 7% of the time is terrible. If the failure rates of the three consoles really were that high, we'd be hearing a lot more press.

 

[gsf1200]

I've had one RROD, microsoft fixed it in one week for free. My first PS1 burned up, no warranty. My second PS1 burned up, no warranty. My first PS2 quit reading discs, not under warranty. Thats why I refused to buy a PS3! Nintendos never break. My ancient NES still works! And the reason you buy another system after one breaks, you have a bunch of games. What do you do with the games if you don't buy another?

 

[Rachmaninov]

Imagine if you never went back to any McDonalds because one you were at messed up your order once.

Honestly, if you get the RROD, it's most likely your own fault. I only have one friend who's Xbox has ever died on him and he is the only person I know who lays it down long ways. [http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/10/xbox360arcadegallerymain.jpg] When you do that, it's more likely to overheat for obvious reasons. Also, most people who own Xbox's are young and normally young people don't know how to take care of electronics very well. That's just my theory, though.

I'm sorry, but I disagree with your theory.

Every Xbox owner I know, varying from ages 11-57, have had their 360 fail in one way or another. One of my best friends, who uses his 360 sparingly, and takes good care of it when he does, is on his fourth(and one of those that died was an elite). I realise that some people will know whole bunches of people who haven't had their Xbox break, but seriously, companies have ordered total product recalls for lower failure rates than even the lowest of the 360's estimates.

The issue is not with the user, it's with the hardware. Sure, Xboxes will overheat faster if they're on their side, but they were designed to either be used either horizontally or vertically. If Microsoft were in the development stages and thought "Well look at that, it overheats when it's on it's side" they should have fixed it, or redesigned it, or at the very least told the users.

If a piece of hardware is high maintenance, like the 360 is, it should give you proper instructions on how to correctly maintain it, and the 360 does not. Do I get a can of compressed air for cleaning the dust out of the fan in the box it comes in? No. Do Microsoft even sell anything to help you run your 360 more appropriately?

The 360 being "next-gen" is no excuse either. Remember, PS2s were next-gen once, and so were Nintendo 64s. I could get out my PS2 right now and it'd play like the day it did when I bought it, and my N64 only has occasional issues with the cartridges. I've not had to send it off, not even for free.

The console is broken. Perhaps running it in a atmosphere controlled lab might prolong its life, but when it is the only object in my whole house that vulnerable, something's wrong.

EDIT: By the way, the "extended warranty" only covers RRoD, none of the other issues. If you want it fixed after your year-long warranty runs out(and you've got any issue but the RRoD), get ready to hand over £60-80. And they'll only pick it up from your house if you live in the U.S.

 

[Darkwolf9]

I'd also attribute that to the fact that it was only 5000 people surveyed. I mean, I'm sure Game Informer doesn't have the widest base of people... but you have to put that into context too. That's the Magazine they sell at Gamestop, right? Who exactly buys that magazine anyway? If I bought a game system, and it failed, I would probably give it another chance. If that second one failed? No way. Not unless it was leagues above everything else available right now. You're on your 3rd, and that's way more than I would ever go through.

Also, though I've never heard of a Wii failing, I've also never heard them played to the point where they might. It's also using hardware from... how many years ago? They HAVE to have worked out the kinks by now.

I've never heard of PS3's failing either, including mine.

Actually in research, 5000 people is quite a large sample size and considering the sample is taken from the readers of game informer you know that it is coming from the population. You can say what you want about the magazine, but a lot of people get it and yes they do get it from Gamestop. Therefore they actually reach the audience that is intended for, the gamers. This includes a wide variety of people, especially since the subscription arguably comes free with the edge card (or the edge card comes free with the subscription).

As far as the failure rate goes, I'm not sure why anyone is surprised. Since the launch of the 360 the fail rate has been around 1 in 3. They keep selling them because they have made the 360 the thing to have if you're "hardcore." Proof of this is how they chose to go about naming their system and basing it around Halo (considered widely the hardcore of the hardcore). I realize that not a lot of people will agree with that last statement, but it's true there are a lot of modern gamers who feel that way. They name their systems the pro and Elite (arcade doesn't help prove the point) which helps facilitate the "I'm better" attitude. The do think a lot into the titles of their systems giving that refused to name the Xbox 360 the Xbox 2 because a fear that people would believe the system less than the PS3 because of a lower number.

 

[nokelso]

... Shouldn't Microsoft be loosing money at this point? It really baffles me that a huge company would just let this happen with faulty consoles, especially with the death rate it seems to be having.

 

[Snotnarok]

I went 6 X360s in 5 months, a string of bad luck to say the least.

Yah? Try being this guy!

A Tale of 11 Broken Xbox 360s

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3160603

Okay well I know I don't have it as bad as him but he doesn't have it "bad" he has it "REALLY REALLY bad" to be scientific about it. I went about it the warranty way with a store and regret it, I just hope that's the last I have to deal with that and when my 360 does croak I hope MS will help out.

 

[Rachmaninov]

... Shouldn't Microsoft be loosing money at this point? It really baffles me that a huge company would just let this happen with faulty consoles, especially with the death rate it seems to be having.

I think the answer to your question is:

Yes they should.

But the sad truth is, they're not. All those Xboxes that fail, which aren't RRoD, and are after the the one year warranty (Extended warranty only covers RRoD) earn them £60-80 for a repair or £100-200 for a new console.

I just thought, it's a brilliant testiment to how tempting the PS3 isn't, that people are still paying Microsoft for broken consoles. If the PS3 really was the 360's equal, surely a large portion of that 54.2% would've bought a PS3 instead of a new Xbox.

Although, that brings another interesting question, how many units of sold Xboxes are replacements due to failures? I think it'd be pretty ironic if the only reason Microsoft is ahead on units is because people have to keep buying Xboxes. I wonder if they include Xboxes that are replacements for free as 'sold?

EDIT: Just discovered, extended warranty now covers the E74. That error cost me £70, but Microsoft obviously got bullied into fixing it for free after they fixed mine.

 

[Deleted]

I've had mine since december 08 and its fine. The trick is to not play halo

Okay okay just kidding. The trick is to not play for ore than 6 hours at a time, with 10 hours in between.

 

[ffxfriek]

I'll say what I always say in this kind of thing, I find it absolutely appalling for Microsoft to let this disastrous RRoD make it through manufacturing.

I can never forgive any manufacturer a failure rate of 33% (54.2% apparently, but that's over 5,000 people, which is still appalling). I don't care if it's Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo, once you start expecting your console to die on you every time you turn it on, something is wrong and it's not you.

Personally, if my PS3 crashed on me 3 times it's strike out. 1st time, okay, things happen, dust collects or whatever. 2nd time, fine, I'll play my games. 3rd time's the charm you're out of there, you cannot expect me as your customer to continue doing this shit (in all honesty, though, I'd probably be a hypocrite and continue sending it in for repairs).

All of my friends with 360 have had to go through a minimum of 3 Xboxes. I don't give a crap if they repair it for free, getting my 360 repaired for the 5th time kind of wears down the "free!" part of it.

My fucking PS2 works like brand new and I bought that near it's launch! While I'm not denying that console breaks down occasionally, they don't usually break down One third of the time.

exactly i got my ps2 at launch and it still works. i play it on hot days(my house has no air conditioning) for HOURS and HOURS and on hot days im afraid to turn on my xbox. hell im still afraid to turn it on. only for special purposes. im on my second xbox but still once is TOO much. Microsoft why o WHY cant you be more like SONY??

 

[Rachmaninov]

I've had mine since december 08 and its fine. The trick is to not play halo

Okay okay just kidding. The trick is to not play for ore than 6 hours at a time, with 10 hours in between.

I missed the part where they listed that in the manual. I play/played my PC and PS2 both considerably more than my Xbox, but it's the Xbox that breaks. If something is badly made, and breaks through minor wear and tear (compared to the stress tests they're meant to use), why is the user at fault?

If I sold you a TV that could only be turned on for 20 minutes a day, before it breaks, but didn't tell you before I sold it to you, and you break it by "wearing it out", who's to blame?

EDIT: PCs can stay on nearly constantly and they don't gain a 54.2% failure rate. Servers for example. Microsoft, of all companies, has no excuse for making hardware that breaks just because you use it alot.

 

[paroxysm11]

I've had my 360 since the day it was released (the Premium) and it has never bricked on me. Never seen a RRoD, never had it shut down without permission, and never had any problems. Thing is, I take care of mine. I clean it once a month, vacuum out dust, and keep it well-ventilated. The key to using a 360 without hardware problems is, to put it simply, TAKE CARE OF IT!

 

[Rachmaninov]

I've had my 360 since the day it was released (the Premium) and it has never bricked on me. Never seen a RRoD, never had it shut down without permission, and never had any problems. Thing is, I take care of mine. I clean it once a month, vacuum out dust, and keep it well-ventilated. The key to using a 360 without hardware problems is, to put it simply, TAKE CARE OF IT!

I took care of my PS2.

Oh... wait. No, I didn't. Because it actually worked properly.

Some people take just as much care as you, and have their 360s brick, you're just lucky.

Let's say gamer "X" has one of each of the major consoles. Why, when X treats all three consoles exactly the same, does the 360 brick, and the other two consoles remain perfectly healthy?

 

[Midniqht]

I've had bricked 360s before, and I'm fine with it honestly. The replacement was free and the service from Microsoft was actually (in contrary to popular belief) very good. They had an empty box at my apartment ready to ship my 360 back to them in a matter of days and it didn't take long to get the fixed one back. Yeah, it's an inconvenience, but I've had good experiences in the midst of the chaos and I still prefer to have my 360 over anything else.

 

[paroxysm11]

I've had my 360 since the day it was released (the Premium) and it has never bricked on me. Never seen a RRoD, never had it shut down without permission, and never had any problems. Thing is, I take care of mine. I clean it once a month, vacuum out dust, and keep it well-ventilated. The key to using a 360 without hardware problems is, to put it simply, TAKE CARE OF IT!

I took care of my PS2.

Oh... wait. No, I didn't. Because it actually worked properly.

Some people take just as much care as you, and have their 360s brick, you're just lucky.

I suppose it could be luck, however I prefer to think it's related to my fastidious and nitpicky method of maintenance.

Oh, and I feel very bad for the poor guy that had eleven 360s brick on him. (I read the article after posting)

AND, as to the gamer X situation, the 360 might just have gremlins.

 

[Deleted]

I've had mine since december 08 and its fine. The trick is to not play halo

Okay okay just kidding. The trick is to not play for ore than 6 hours at a time, with 10 hours in between.

I missed the part where they listed that in the manual. I play/played my PC and PS2 both considerably more than my Xbox, but it's the Xbox that breaks. If something is badly made, and breaks through minor wear and tear (compared to the stress tests they're meant to use), why is the user at fault?

If I sold you a TV that could only be turned on for 20 minutes a day, before it breaks, but didn't tell you before I sold it to you, and you break it by "wearing it out", who's to blame?

EDIT: PCs can stay on nearly constantly and they don't gain a 54.2% failure rate. Servers for example. Microsoft, of all companies, has no excuse for making hardware that breaks just because you use it alot.

Nowhere did I mention it was anyones fault but Microsoft's. I just told you a good way to keep it from breaking. Cause, well, what you gonna do about it? The other alternative is to stop playing altogether.

 

[AvsJoe]

He-he. My 3 year old xbox is still running strong.

Oh man are you ever going to eat those words soon enough. Your xbox dies not long from now. Better save up some cash...

 

[Julianking93]

Not surprising. I went through 9 of these goddamn things before I finally wised up and got a PS3.

I'm happy in my choice