Survey Finds Xbox 360 Breaks 5 Times More than PS3

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
4,646
The Consumerist reports about a survey conducted by Game Informer (print edition only) that asked about console failures. About 5,000 readers were polled and some very interesting numbers were pulled from the data. They say that the 360 numbers are inflated due to the larger number of MS boxes out there but the numbers are still pretty alarming.

The most shocking number from the survey — and frightening from a consumer perspective — is only 3.8 percent of Xbox 360 owners said they'd never buy another Xbox because of hardware failure.
Click to expand...
 
Game informer reader poll is a credible source of information ....
 
While no one is going to argue that the failure rate for the 360 is terrible, this survey should be taken with a LARGE grain of salt. This isn't a scientific survey by any means and people are notorious for beating up on Microsoft for no reason other than they're Microsoft.

One thing that we should also note is that *all* of these consoles fail much more often than any consumer electronics should.
 
Ya, I agree. I have a friend who has had 2 Xbox 360s die on him. Doesn't mean that him or I are not going to play 360 anymore. Xbox definitely has some of the best choice of games. Also the only console manufacturer that ever made consoles that didn't have one break for every 5 on the market (exaggeration) is Nintendo. And they have the cheapest consoles too.
 
Yeah they really do jester. I agree with you on that. I have a dead PS3 just hanging out because I can't afford the flat rate $150 fee sony wants to repair it. I'm just seeing way too many of these things break -both PS3's and 360's- either telling me one of two things: the quality control sucks, or these things are just so complicated now that they can't make them reliable, but I don't believe the latter much.

I know the 360 failure rates are a bit high, but I'd really love to know the PS3 true failure rates before I send in mine, only waiting for it to break again in six months. It's just becoming way too acceptable for these things to last 6 months. I had my PS3 for 2 and ½ years and it really hasn't been worth the 600 bucks, nevermind tacking on that $150 fee to fix it if it breaks again.
 
I agree with most of the posts in this thread.

For comparison:

I have owned 3 Xbox 360's, now at 2. Sold 1 launch 360 that was still functioning just fine when I sold it 6 months ago. Both of my other 360's -- not sure what revisions, but both have HDMI -- have been perfect.

I have owned 1 Wii. Died in the first 6 months; replaced by Nintendo.

I own a PS3 20 GB. Failed to work after ~120 days, repaired by Sony. Failed again 30 days later. Repaired again. Thus far, it has been OK.


You never know what you're going to get!
 
Quote: The most shocking number from the survey — and frightening from a consumer perspective — is only 3.8 percent of Xbox 360 owners said they'd never buy another Xbox because of hardware failure.

Umm, yeah, no shit. It's not like you can take your library of xbox 360 games and play them on alternative hardware. If you don't buy another xbox 360, then you get the shaft that all the money you spent on games and components is lost.
 
bboynitrous said:
I know the 360 failure rates are a bit high, but I'd really love to know the PS3 true failure rates before I send in mine, only waiting for it to break again in six months. It's just becoming way too acceptable for these things to last 6 months. I had my PS3 for 2 and ½ years and it really hasn't been worth the 600 bucks, nevermind tacking on that $150 fee to fix it if it breaks again.
Click to expand...

MS could have a promo:

"Send us two broken PS3s, and we'll send you one new POS Xbox 360."

Hard choice...
 
My first Halo3 edition had DVD trouble in the first week, just a bad unit. Second has been going strong for 2 years. Maybe it is the dry climate up here, but I never have had a bad PS2, XBOX, SNES, NES or PSX.
 
Terry Olaes said:
The Consumerist reports about a survey conducted by Game Informer (print edition only) that asked about console failures. About 5,000 readers were polled and some very interesting numbers were pulled from the data. They say that the 360 numbers are inflated due to the larger number of MS boxes out there but the numbers are still pretty alarming.
Click to expand...

If their failure numbers are even close to accurate, MS must lose tons of the Xbox.
For me to buy into this, those that claim they had a failure would have to produce documentation to support the claim.

For all we know, a broken controller is considered a failure.

I won't debate the quality of the Xbox, but a 50% failure is ridiculously high and if true, there would be a recall and/or lots of ongoing class action lawsuits.
 
Wow....some of you still seem to be in denial about the 360's failure rate. Everyone that I know that has bought one has had atleast one RROD failure. I personally have had mine repaced 4 times and once for my son's. While this survey might be a load of crap I think it's safe to say that the 360 quality wise is a big steaming pile of shit.

I would bet money that the failure rate was 50% or higher. I have never owned anything that has broken this much and it probably should have been recalled.

With that said I can't wait to get home and play some Tiger Woods on Live :)
 
Survey also finds that owners play their xbox 360 5 times more than the PS3.

Seriously. I know so many PS3 users who either hardly touch it for gaming purposes or use it exclusively as a blu-ray player.

I still have my x360 elite that I've had since Nov of 07. No problems *knocks on wood*.
 
I personally don't care about the failure rate that much. So long as their customer service is good and replaces any defective equipment with a minimum of hassle.
 
wtiger said:
I personally don't care about the failure rate that much. So long as their customer service is good and replaces any defective equipment with a minimum of hassle.
Click to expand...

Notice that part about lowest cust sat rate for Microsoft too? Of course, that could be a symptom of so many people having to actually engage the MS support teams, unlike the PS3 and Wii. After all, if one is pissed that one's console died, one is likely to give a crappy score in a survey, regardless of how well the support actually performed. Gotta love cust sat numbers...
 
Mine has died twice on me and both times Microsoft has gotten a replacement back in my hands in under two weeks at no cost to me so I can't say I really care.

Gaiden113 said:
Seriously. I know so many PS3 users who either hardly touch it for gaming purposes or use it exclusively as a blu-ray player.
Click to expand...
That's the same story with everyone I know. None of them actually play games with it and most of them bought 360's to play games on.
 
I bought a launch console (360 with 20 GB HDD)
I've sent it in THREE times for RROD.
Each time at about 12 months.
Each time it was returned faster and the process has been streamlined to let you use your own box. MS has taken care of all costs. I think their CS has been excellent.

The said console just died again from a DVD drive failure. It's out of warranty now, so I fixed it this time, and upgraded the HDD to 120 GB.

I bought an Elite yesterday......so I guess I'm a sucker for punishment.:D
 
If you notice in other polls, there are a large number of XBox's in the world...but more importantly, the average play time on an XBox is MUCH higher than other consoles at 5-7 hours daily, compared to 2-3 for PS3 and less than an hour for Wii. Logic would say that because of the 3-4 times greater daily usage of the console (and because of that extended time powered on in an enclosed media center) that you would have a 3-4 times higher failure rate.
 
I rate the exclusives that other consoles get a "1" on metacritic and amazon. Gosh, those games are terrible.
 
D-OveRMinD said:
If you notice in other polls, there are a large number of XBox's in the world...but more importantly, the average play time on an XBox is MUCH higher than other consoles at 5-7 hours daily, compared to 2-3 for PS3 and less than an hour for Wii. Logic would say that because of the 3-4 times greater daily usage of the console (and because of that extended time powered on in an enclosed media center) that you would have a 3-4 times higher failure rate.
Click to expand...

I would say that it should be desinged to handle that. If you build a box that can not only play games, but pull video off their cloud service and serve and as an extender to a Media Center PC then it will get used A LOT by a large portion of the users. Living room cabinets are enclosed spaces that get hot. The device should be designed, built and tested to handle that envirnoment. MSFT bought 1st class tickets on the Failtrain Express to Liability Land with the 360. Only with the latest "jasper" rev do they seem to have a handle on things.
 
While this poll is not scientific, it gives a good general idea of the numbers. Ms has openly admitted they are extremely deep in the red on the 360 as from failures. Do a little searching and it is pretty easy to find that the failure rate is abnormally high on the 360 (Pre Jasper). I am fairly sure there will be a Class action over it, they are probably just waiting to see how many end up failing. Most class action suits take years to put together properly, the 360 hasn't been out long enough yet.

The one point that alot of 360 owners seem to be in denial about is MS's sales numbers. A Very large number of 360 sales are RMA units or resales from people tired of the RMA process and just wanting to play their games. There have been more then enough articles at this point to more then believe that a large part of MS's sales are just that. One could very easily come to the conclusion that MS is in fact not in 2nd place in "Unique" sales, but rather only there due to the replacement rate. Obviously this would be very private corporate data that MS would never openly admit (See lawsuit). I own a 360 myself as do pretty much all of my friends. Thus far out of the group of us, only 1 hasn't had theirs fail and several of us have had multiple failures. People who want to argue the PS3 has a higher fail rate are in flat out denial, you constantly hear "My 360 died" stories, you very rarely hear "My Ps3 died" stories.

That all said, my track record with the PS3 isn't flawless either. My first 60gb model bought on launch day died 13 days after warranty ended. However I got lucky and Sony covered it and had it replaced within the week at no cost to me. Dealing with MS has required a minimum of 30 days everytime to get an RMA, this is a common story and Sony is beating Ms in the customer service department for certain.

At the end of the day, Both systems can fail. They produce alot of heat and being advanced electronic devices have an incredible number of points of potential failure. So far the 360 is proving it was rushed to market and Ms is going to be paying for that mistake for sometime to come. I hope that all the game licensing they get from it are indeed covering for the hardware loss. Furthermore anyone buying either system at this point, would be a fool to not drop $20 for an extended warranty. I normally don't condone warranties, but 3 years of being able to take it into the store and swap for a new one is far better then dealing with RMA from either sony or MS. Especially when you are dropping at least $300 for the system.
 
ianken said:
Since the rag covers multiple consoles how can they even be sure the respondants have 360s to begin with?
Click to expand...

I can just imagine the responses to the poll:

Q. How many XBOX 360s, which you purchased, have broken?

A. OVER 9000!!!
 
Why is it shocking that people will buy something that breaks down? My Aston is in the shop all the goddamn time and I’ll buy the V12 Vantage with a smile on my face knowing it will be in the shop just as much. The Consumerist is just a bunch of retarded anti-capitalist shitheads that are pissed off because they don’t know how to live the good life.
 
bboynitrous said:
Yeah they really do jester. I agree with you on that. I have a dead PS3 just hanging out because I can't afford the flat rate $150 fee sony wants to repair it. I'm just seeing way too many of these things break -both PS3's and 360's- either telling me one of two things: the quality control sucks, or these things are just so complicated now that they can't make them reliable, but I don't believe the latter much.

I know the 360 failure rates are a bit high, but I'd really love to know the PS3 true failure rates before I send in mine, only waiting for it to break again in six months. It's just becoming way too acceptable for these things to last 6 months. I had my PS3 for 2 and ½ years and it really hasn't been worth the 600 bucks, nevermind tacking on that $150 fee to fix it if it breaks again.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with your PS3? The most common issue with the PS3 that I know of is the Blu-ray laser going out..
 
Can't edit my original post...

Anyhow I'm surprised that it has not been mentioned that certain revisions of the 360 fail more than others. The launch unit is most prone to the infamouse red ring but as MS released newer revisions the failure rate has gone down. The most current revision, the Jasper unit, is supposed to make the RRoD a thing of the past. Unfortunately the Jasper unit hasn't been out for very long so it's too early to tell if it is effective in avoiding the RRoD.

They should have asked the readers to mention what revision of the 360 they have..
 
SerpentSix said:
Wow....some of you still seem to be in denial about the 360's failure rate. Everyone that I know that has bought one has had atleast one RROD failure. I personally have had mine repaced 4 times and once for my son's. While this survey might be a load of crap I think it's safe to say that the 360 quality wise is a big steaming pile of shit.

I would bet money that the failure rate was 50% or higher. I have never owned anything that has broken this much and it probably should have been recalled.
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm on XBox #2 and among my circle of friends I'm on the low-ish side. Most of my friends are on #2, several are on #3, and two are on #4. Most people on Shacknews have had at least one die out and one poor guy there is on at least his eighth (for real). It is the most faulty piece of consumer electronics that I can think of. Its a good thing that they extended the warranty and are fairly speedy on replacement turnaround (and that its the best gamer's console this generation :)).

Either way, the failure rate is high but it doesn't surprise me. 5000 is a pretty decent sample size, I just wonder how random it is as far as time of console ownership, location, etc etc.
 
Wrench said:
Isn't Game Informer Game Stops propaganda rag?
Click to expand...
Yes. If you're hinting that they are using it as a way to increase PS3 sales, I doubt it since obviously the 360 has more consumers to sell too. But with the Slim being announced today, maybe they are using it as a way to get people to jump on the PS3 bandwagon.

k1pp3r said:
How many more xbox 360's have been sold? 5x as many?
Click to expand...
Approximately 30% more.
 
bigdogchris said:
Yes. If you're hinting that they are using it as a way to increase PS3 sales, I doubt it since obviously the 360 has more consumers to sell too. But with the Slim being announced today, maybe they are using it as a way to get people to jump on the PS3 bandwagon.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt this... GameStop has nothing to gain by people throwing away their 360's and going over to a PS3 Slim. Currently the PS3 has a smaller library of games and we all know GameStop makes its money not off of hardware / new software sales but used hardware and software sales.

With a smaller library of used games the only thing they would gain is an increase in possible used hardware sales. Based off of what my GameStop employee friends have told me, everyone and their mom wanted a PS2 Slim when it came out... They couldn't care less about the cheaper used fat PS2, and it took a long time to get any used Slims in.

Right now their bets will always be placed on whatever generates higher used item sales...
 
Granted they could be predicting a boom in both PS3 used hardware and software sales down the line. GameStop's upper management has always been a bit on the slow side for predictions and usually spring "Duh!" ideas on their store management / employees at the latest moment possible...

*Wishes their was an edit button even for the first 10 minutes of a post being made* :p
 
360 #1:

I was stoked beyond belief, and trashed the PS3 to all friends that would listen. I had found the GOD of gaming systems. a few months into ownership, hello RROD.

360 #2: For some insane reason I had gotten the BB extended warranty on the 1st one, and for once it paid off. Got my new console, and off the races I was.

360 #3: For an even more inexplicable reason (the kindnes of their hearts??) BB honored my ORIGINAL extended warranty when XBOX #2 took a crap on me 3 weeks later.

PS3 #1 (and only): 360 #3 shits the bed in a month, I go to BB looking most likely looking like the main character in a psychotic mass murder film, and BB came through yet again (my mind is still blown at how well they handled the process.) They asked me if I wanted another 360 and I started cackling in the manager's face, calmed down, and then asked politely if I could go the PS3 route instead. They obliged, and I sold all my 360 games/controllers at a loss to a friend that soon got the RROD after I got my PS3.

The point of this rambling nonsense, is forget these surveys for a moment, it's the indvidual consumer that will be the person left with a bad taste in his/her mouth. Ever been to a restaurant that everyone in town swore had the best Italian for miles, only to find out the service is beyond p1ss poor? Those are the places I never go back to. Same goes for the good old 360. I REALLY wanted to like it/keep it, but I am not paying $3-400 to beta test their final product...

Several years later, the 60gb PS3 (one of the originals) I got is still going strong, plays blu-rays like a champ, and generally kicks ass.

I'm surprised more people have "stayed the course" with the 360, but like an above poster said, once you've invested in games, dongles, controllers, etc, they kinda have you by the balls unless you're willing to eat a loss.

And more power to those that have never had a problem out of theirs; I'm more than happy for you. Seemed like an incredible system the few weeks I had one actually working, but I just can't dive back in at this point.

I just personally will avoid any MS gaming offerings going forward, as the shodddy state they released their console in is simply unforgiveable.

/rambling rant off.
 
Well I respect your personal experience and opinion. I myself am on my second PS3, not because of failure but due to lack of good games and a Q6600 looking to much more viable (and has been). Second PS3 I own only because my good friend went halves with me on it, we continue to keep it at my house till this day (that was the agreement).

I am on 360 #2, after my launch console finally died a week ago I decided it was time to get a Jasper unit. I intend to xclamp the old one and maybe keep it as a spare...

All in all, the reason why some prefer the 360 over the PS3 and refuse to switch at this point may be due to the lack of good exclusives. Lets be honest, the exclusives the PS3 does have (like the Resistance series, Killzone 2, Uncharted, etc) are freaking amazing games and I find them to be a good reason to keep my PS3, but as a Japanese RPG fan I find Sony lacking in what it use to do best and that was present a good number of exclusives from all regions to the USA... Even with the ability to import any Asian game and play it to my hearts desire only leaves me with few extra options, one of which I do own (Demon's Souls).

PS3 in my eyes is a failure, not just statistically but to their fans. Where MS has failed on system stability is probably the only point where Sony is strong. A price cut is great and needed, but it may be a little too late, MS is already combating their new price by bringing their top of the line system down to the same price level. It's a win / win for all gamers but really it could be a loss for Sony.

My gripe lies with Sony, they just aren't aggressive enough where it counts. I'm not saying that system failures are forgivable but neither is a company that "RROD" when you just wish the damn thing would work for once. :p

Anyways I'll have my cake and eat it to with both. I just hope the events to come bring Sony back up to par and keep MS steady as well, they both are needed to keep each other from gouging our wallets out of our pockets next console generation....
 
While i may be lucky but i bought my ps3 to fold . Its been going 24/7 since the ps3 client was released. Thats what? Two years now. I just spray out the dust every month or so all while its still running.
 
Derfman said:
Well I respect your personal experience and opinion. I myself am on my second PS3, not because of failure but due to lack of good games and a Q6600 looking to much more viable (and has been). Second PS3 I own only because my good friend went halves with me on it, we continue to keep it at my house till this day (that was the agreement).

I am on 360 #2, after my launch console finally died a week ago I decided it was time to get a Jasper unit. I intend to xclamp the old one and maybe keep it as a spare...

All in all, the reason why some prefer the 360 over the PS3 and refuse to switch at this point may be due to the lack of good exclusives. Lets be honest, the exclusives the PS3 does have (like the Resistance series, Killzone 2, Uncharted, etc) are freaking amazing games and I find them to be a good reason to keep my PS3, but as a Japanese RPG fan I find Sony lacking in what it use to do best and that was present a good number of exclusives from all regions to the USA... Even with the ability to import any Asian game and play it to my hearts desire only leaves me with few extra options, one of which I do own (Demon's Souls).

PS3 in my eyes is a failure, not just statistically but to their fans. Where MS has failed on system stability is probably the only point where Sony is strong. A price cut is great and needed, but it may be a little too late, MS is already combating their new price by bringing their top of the line system down to the same price level. It's a win / win for all gamers but really it could be a loss for Sony.

My gripe lies with Sony, they just aren't aggressive enough where it counts. I'm not saying that system failures are forgivable but neither is a company that "RROD" when you just wish the damn thing would work for once. :p

Anyways I'll have my cake and eat it to with both. I just hope the events to come bring Sony back up to par and keep MS steady as well, they both are needed to keep each other from gouging our wallets out of our pockets next console generation....
Click to expand...

QFT...The lack of exclusive Jrpg (I'm looking at you SE..and FFXIII) is just killing me. It is a sad freaking day when Eternal sonata (Not a bad game by any stretch, just not a blow my mind game either), is about the best Console JRPG for this damn long after the PS3 launched.

You are most correct here in that Sony is it's own worst enemy. Let's all be honest for a moment..quality and capability the PS3 blows the 360 out of the water..Period. To argue otherwise just smacks of fanboyism. However Loss of exclusives, shitty marketing, and general Sony arrogance and stupidity have severely crippled the system. Nintendo is a perfect example..the Wii sucks..I am sorry but it sucks..I have owned mine since Day 1. It has very few good "Hard core" titles..the graphics are shitty, it overheats and freezes up like a bitch, and honestly the waggle remote novelty wears off damn quick. However Nintento has marketed the ever loving god out of it, pumped out a truckload of exclusives, Came in at a far lower price point (until you factor in the $70 extra remote and other stuff you just gotta have) and they have sold the living Sin out of that little piece of crap. If Sony had done just half of what Nintendo did, the ps3 would have been a raving success.

I love my PS3..but I freaking HATE Sony..Seriously, someone needs to find whoever the major decision makers are behind the marketing, exclusive deals etc for the ps3 and just beat them over the head until they get it.
 
I
just can't buy a xbox 360. Something whthin me screams NO when I read this.I still remember when broken games were few and far between, and now both sofware and hardware are consistently f'ed up. I am just baffeled at how so many people can accept the poor performance record whit the excuse "Oh it has a warrenty". Has anyone ever thorught that MS might now make game sytems like shoes? Built to break after a certain time...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top