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CNET UK: 60 percent of Xbox 360s have broken

GameSpot UK's sister site performs survey on British console owners; discovers 60% failure rate for Xbox 360, 16% for PS3, 6% for Wii.

Console failure rates have been a common news item throughout the year, with numerous surveys out of the US suggesting that the problem was far greater than Sony, Nintendo and especially Microsoft would like to admit. In August, Game Informer magazine polled 5,000 subscribers and found that a whopping 54.2 percent had reported at least one broken Xbox 360. In September, electronics-warranty company SquareTrade corroborated the findings to a lesser scale, finding that of the 2,500 Xbox 360 consoles it analysed at random, 23.7 percent failed within two years of purchase.

CNET UK found that the red ring of death is a common occurrence in the UK…

CNET UK found that the red ring of death is a common occurrence in the UK…

Now, a survey from CNET UK shows that the situation is similarly dire in the British Isles. The results from an online user-initiated poll of 1,128 UK-based console owners (of whom 562 owned Xbox 360s, 473 owned PlayStation 3s and 591 had Wiis, with some owning more than one) indicated that 60 percent of Xbox 360 owners had experienced terminal hardware failure of some sort, compared to 16 percent of PS3 owners and just 6 percent of Wii owners.

According to CNET UK's survey, Xbox 360 failure problems are highly likely to happen within the first 12 months of purchase, with 47 percent reporting console death inside a year. The site also found a high proportion of people took advantage of Microsoft's extended warranty offer; 72 percent sent them back to the manufacturer, while 15 percent decided to try to fix it themselves.

The failure rates on other consoles also seem to be comparable in the UK to those reported in surveys from the US. Game Informer's survey indicated that 10.6 percent of PS3 owners had reported a failure, while CNET UK found that of its UK respondents, 16 percent had suffered a PS3 console failure. The trend for the Wii is also comparable internationally, with a 6.8 percent initial failure rate from the US Game Informer survey, and a similar 6 percent result from CNET UK.

AS CNET UK notes, its survey was self-selecting, so as with the Game Informer results, they do not represent a random or necessarily representative sample. CNET UK has the full story on its site now, including the anecdote of one user whose Xbox 360 "was repaired six times before (being) refunded by Microsoft."

Disclosure: CNET UK is published by CBS Interactive, which also publishes GameSpot UK.

331 Comments

  • Ryanrtk

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 1:43 pm GMT

    PS3!!!!!!

  • Ryanrtk

    Posted Jan 22, 2010 1:38 pm GMT

    ps3 best!!!

  • Racer850

    Posted Dec 17, 2009 10:24 am GMT

    60% is a huge number!

  • Nenad87

    Posted Dec 15, 2009 4:29 pm GMT

    open the xbox360 and ps3 and you will see the difference. xbox360 looks poor. the quality of hardware is much better in the ps3. 360 has really great exclusives but many people bought it only because you can modded it. you can say what you want but the fact is..ps3 is the better system. (sorry about bad english )

  • zae333

    Posted Dec 13, 2009 1:48 am GMT

    I don't know about the accuracy of these polls in general, however; I have had two Xbox 360's die on me. My best friend is on number 2 and my cousin is waiting on the return of number 3. Don't get me wrong, I love my Xbox and would not trade it for any other system. But it is the most poorly constructed of the three current-gen offerings. Microsoft should be ashamed.

  • Pranjal87

    Posted Dec 5, 2009 12:36 am GMT

    I owe XBOX 360, ps3 , wii. And believe me when I say that please do not buy a X box. It really suckxxx. RROD in just 7 months, and again after warranty, its so poorly constructed. Finally i gave up and bought a ps3, if only i didn't buy so many games for xbox. I think the only reason xbox sells is cuz it can be modded. Why else would anyone buy a fixed stirage dvd player when opted against a variable changeable hdd blu ray entertainment system. Americans cannot be trusted. It has to be Japanese if it has to be good. MGS, ZOE,Resident evil? JAPAN

  • Ryanrtk

    Posted Dec 4, 2009 2:46 pm GMT

    ps3 is better than 360

  • HavocV3

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 7:02 pm GMT

    Well, 3rd post on here....but just looking down this very page, it's clearly too easy to make an accurate observation on how these polls are skewed.

    Algolagnia is saying the same things as me, on how polls are easily disrupted by other people who have nothing to do with it

    He gets a -3 for saying it

    Guy just below "another reason to buy a PS3" gets +7?

    I didn't even have to navigate to find living proof that these polls are a complete load.

  • HavocV3

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 6:58 pm GMT

    Maybe these 15% have the hardware know-how to do it themselves and faster than the 2 weeks that Microsoft will take? It's such a mood breaker to be in the middle of a great game and have to wait 2 weeks before you can continue playing it again. Not everyone is clueless about hardware. Some RRoD causes are easy to fix if you know how.

    ____

    Lol, it really isn't even hard. You just need a couple of a certain kind of screw and a torx screwdriver. Maybe some thermal paste.

    To fix the software failures on a console is a different story.

  • HavocV3

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 6:53 pm GMT

    with some owning more than one

    _____

    Just another botched survey...most likely due to fanboys disrupting it.

    I doubt the PS3 failure rate is really even 16 percent, even that seems too high.

    Wii seems on par. I'll stick to SquareTrade's data...they're a WARRANTY company, who can qualify better?

  • cerealkiller8

    Posted Nov 26, 2009 1:01 pm GMT

    @skunkynz
    By your argument, a console that has a 0% failure rate with absolutley no games would be "better" than an xbox 360? Its the games that make a console, not the hardware.

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 25, 2009 8:06 pm GMT

    Hey thanks @skunkynz There's a problem for both consoles then. It would just seem to me if you read some of my lower comments that it's a far more frequent problem for the Xbox unfortunately. And I personally like the PS3 better.

  • skunkynz

    Posted Nov 24, 2009 5:43 pm GMT

    all the "rrod and ylod" being an internet myth is a big pile of garbage just because it hasnt happened to you or your fanboy friends dosnt mean that its a myth, in my personal experience is that it does happen to both consoles 360 more so, i actually no this from having it happen to me 5 times on xbox over 2 years had been told from friends that ps3 was better and said scruw the microsoft rubbish, sold the 33 games i had trashed the xbox bought a ps3 and over a period of 3 years i got ylod and sent it away to get fixed only once the warrenty run out and it happened again the next year so i got another one with another 3 year warrenty so im gonna be perpeared to buy another ps3 in four years time, instead of 1 every 2 years also i dont have to pay for online gaming what so ever like xbox, but hay i guess the truth hurts that sonys ps3 is supperior to xbox no question period.

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 21, 2009 9:02 pm GMT

    Most thouroughly agree with you @Cloud737. Gave you thumbs up! Like I said in my comment below, the article says only 60 percent failure rate so you're probably enjoying some of the good ones. It's probably about a 50/50 chance that it will or won't fail. @algolagnia In other words you can't just assume that because you haven't personally had any bad experiences or seen any that there aren't any.

  • Cloud737

    Posted Nov 21, 2009 4:00 am GMT

    @ Algolagnia

    Internet myth? Even myths have their seed of truth.

    And just because it didn't happen to you or your friends, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. It's like you're living in the jungle with your primitive friends, and just because you've never seen anything technologically advanced in your entire lives, it means that there aren't any advanced technologies out there beyond the jungle?

    Case in point: single individual cases cannot be taken solely as evidence. It's why the surveys don't just survey 3-10 people, they have to survey at least a couple of hundred, preferably thousands, and from different backgrounds to have diversity in their studies so that coincidences and other skewing factors are diminished.

  • Cloud737

    Posted Nov 21, 2009 2:54 am GMT

    Wow, that means that in the course of a PS3's lifetime, a gamer would have to go through 4 Xboxes!!

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 21, 2009 12:39 am GMT

    Sorry about this, but what is YLOD?!?!?!?!?! Does anyone here know? It's something that messes up the PS3.

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 20, 2009 11:44 am GMT

    That's fine for you @Algolagnia but lots of Xbox's are crashing. A lot more than PS3's. It would depend partly on how much a person uses a console and treats it, but the Xbox 360's fail more than PS3's like it or not. There's far more report of that kind of problem on other sites, magazines, and television. These reports are put out for a reason, my friend's failed in a year as a lot of them do. Not all 360's crash or have problems. It said 60 percent. (and it probably isn't quite that bad.) You are probably enjoying some of the good consoles. There is probably about a 50/50 chance that it will crash or be fine. I'm sure there are just as many people that have no problems as there are people that do, but a company should have enough pride to make the vast majority of their consoles actually work, not just half. Microsoft doesn't.

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 20, 2009 11:23 am GMT

    @Steelmouth Yea I know. That's why I said I understand that. I just enjoy the storylines I'm following on the PS3 is all.

  • Algolagnia

    Posted Nov 20, 2009 5:48 am GMT

    @lostn

    I never said that, or even implied it was PS3 fanboys skewing the results. It's common knowledge though you don't take internet polls seriously, just like you don't take user reviews here at GameSpot seriously and you don't trust GameStop to have business ethics or knowledgeable staff.

    Actually no, no other studies that were not later debunked have said the failure rate is so high. It simply isn't, I know plenty of people with Gen 1 360's that still work, nobody has had any problems with RROD. It's merely an internet myth as far as my friends and I are concerned, because none of the results are even close to being legitimate or have already been debunked in some way.

  • steelmouth

    Posted Nov 20, 2009 1:07 am GMT

    @dsbvusdbo all am saying is games cost more than the console if you have 50+ games on any console you are most likely to keep that console rather than get a new console that you have 0 games on hence ppl re-buying the xbox360 dispite its problems then there are those "really great exclusive stories" that keep ppl loyal to thier consoles

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 11:47 pm GMT

    @steelmouth I can understand that. As for me though I'm glad I'm following really great PS3 exclusive stories that I love since this console is at least a lot less likely to crash.

  • steelmouth

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 11:36 pm GMT

    @dsbvusdbo

    Yeah you right the life span of the 360 is all down to luck accoding to all the rumors i.e some ppl say it died after a few hours of play as for my 360 i wud have had it for 3 years come december and it still running like i said before

    here is were i differ with you ppl keep on re-buying the 360 because of their game collection, it not about the game library or exclusives much but about FINISHING THE STORY any game you play and love for wat ever reason you will olso want to play all its sequals hence halo will always sell well and its fans will alwys re-buy the 360, I for one am a gears of war fan and will follow it to what ever system

  • gamer082009

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 11:32 pm GMT

    The more you play your Xbox 360, the chance of it dying increases. That has allot to do with some people who have not had the RROD yet. You should be able to play it endlessly without it failing, but the good ol Billion dollar Microsoft had to throw cheap parts in the inside. I still love my 360 never the less, even though I'm on console #3. This HDMI version I got has been going strong for a while, so fingers crossed for no failure!

  • lostn

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 9:59 pm GMT

    Irve

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 3:50 pm GMT

    "so i'm guessing 15% of those 360 owners chipped their console ! why else would you repair it yourself when MS do it for free and give you a months fee live .. all within a 2 week turn around "

    Maybe these 15% have the hardware know-how to do it themselves and faster than the 2 weeks that Microsoft will take? It's such a mood breaker to be in the middle of a great game and have to wait 2 weeks before you can continue playing it again. Not everyone is clueless about hardware. Some RRoD causes are easy to fix if you know how.

  • lostn

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 9:56 pm GMT

    pete_merlin

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 9:47 am GMT

    "meh, get it repaired for free, have to wait about 2-3 weeks. No biggie"

    Yeah for NOW. Do you think they will be this generous forever? If the console's generation lasts only 3 years, then sure.

    Guess what.. if Microsoft thinks their console will have a 10 year life span this generation like Sony claims theirs will, 7 of those 10 years will not be covered by warranty. Look 5-7 years from now. If your 360 dies, you'll either be buying another one, paying (repeatedly) for OOW repairs, or going without your console.

    Right NOW things might be rosy with free repairs, but those 3 years will not cover the life span of your console. I can still fire up my PS1 right now. It's 15 years old but still works. I won't be able to do that with my 360 15 years from now. It will be dead, and phased out by the X720 and I won't be able to buy another one either.

  • lostn

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 9:52 pm GMT

    Algolagnia

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 12:05 pm GMT

    "I'll say it again, it was an online poll. Lol. It can't be taken seriously."

    You don't think there are enough Xbot fanboys out there that will answer "no, mine is fine" to the poll to make it look better? Everyone who said "yes it died" were PS3 fanboys? This survey is very representative of the kind of results other surveys have yielded. Xbox is a badly designed console that produces too much heat. Even you have to admit that.

  • buft

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 5:31 pm GMT

    i had only one problem with my ps3 which turned out to be reolvable over the phone , no problems with my wii and im on my 3rd or 4th xbox due to hardware faults.
    however i do play my xbox a lot more than my other 2 consoles,i used to blame myself but now i think it was terrible build quality thats too blame

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 12:59 pm GMT

    @monson21502 I'm sorry you've had a bad experience with your PS3, but I've had no problem with mine for 3 years and more xbox's than PS3's have failure problems. It says the PS3 has a 16 percent failure rate, so you may have got one that was defective. Both consoles have problems but I feel the PS3 is better. And what do you mean by it doesn't have good engineering?
    Do you mean it has failures as well or it's games aren't any good? And (sorry) another question. What is YLOD? Anyway I appreciate the way you explain why you don't like the PS3 and that you did give the PS3 a little extra trash talk. I don't know if you've ran across @vasot but he's just bitter. He'll navigate to PS3 games just to tear them apart. And he doesn't even seem to explain there flaws he just blindly attacks them as not fit for the hardcore gamer, or immature, or full of rainbows and butterflys just because it has some humor in it. Then when you argue with him and try to be nice he just bites back with something spiteful and acts like it's evil to be a PS3 fanboy and righteous to be a Xbox360 fanboy. That's why I was explaining it's fine to like either, cause I was afraid you would start some mindless argument like that. (That and because it is fine to like either.) It's just nice to see a better attitude.

    Oh, and how long was it till your PS3 burned out or stared having large problems?

  • monson21502

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 12:33 pm GMT

    @dsbvusdbo, ps3 does not have good engineering. my 60 gig broke with YLOD, a few of my friends has problems to with it freezing on him and when he ejects a game disc the disc is so hot it almost burns him. then i had my other friend ask if i didnt get my ps3 fixed and just got a slim instead . he would buy it for parts because his lens burnt out on the blu ray drive. i know just as many people with bad ps3s as i do people that had rrod or E74. i myself have had both my systems brake. i admit i give ps3 a little extra trash talk . but thats because of sony trying to make me pay them 200 bucks to fix my system. that i have way over 1000 bucks into already 500 dollars for system. about 15 games, 20 blu ray movies 3 controllers, hdmi wire, ps3 eye, 2 bluetooth headsets.... just wait till ur systems die then you have to pay again for it. it will peeve you off too

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 11:55 am GMT

    @monson21502 Are you just here to mock the fact that some of us enjoy PS3 games and good engineering? Like I said, my friends xbox burned out in a year and that's not just a unlikely piece of bad luck that happened to only him. I'm sorry but this is a large problem that has been addressed by other sites and magazines I've read that are biased against Sony. The PS3 really is a good console with good games that get some high ratings and awards for good reasons. Your a (fanboy) of the 360 just as much as I am for the PS3. There's nothing wrong with being either of those things because they both have good games but the xbox's failure rate is something that I think needs to be fixed and is definitely a big problem and like I said I wouldn't want to buy a console that fails more times than not.

  • dsbvusdbo

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 11:39 am GMT

    @steelmouth How long have you had your xbox360? You saw in my comment above yours that we've had ours for 3 years and had no problem with it. I just wanted to know cause you're talking about how you don't use it every day for ten hours so it hasn't crashed. But I think it's also because you're one of the lucky ones who got a good one. You saw at least from the survey that 40 percent don't have problems. SOMEBODY has to get those good consoles! Any way my friend didn't use his for really more than two hours total each day or less on most days. I'm sure he probably used it for like 3 hours on the weekends but that really isn't all that bad considering he didn't use it for more than an hour at a time, and it still burned out in a year. Yours may work fine but I still wouldn't buy a console that fails more times than not. I'm glad I got a PS3 because of reliability as well as game selection, performance, graphics, and it's improving online capabilities.

  • KaizerJinn

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 10:23 am GMT

    ...i'm very disappointed in M$... i understand that it's business, but i completely lost respect for their 360, not because of the failure rate, but the reason behind it... they intentionally start selling a product that they wasnt even sure was safe, but worst of it all, they didnt even admit it until their back was against the wall about the problem. that shows disloyallty to me as a consumer. especially when you was asking me topay over $300 for it. that's a slap in the face for me... i'm glad they are trying to fix the problem and been fixing it, but those decisions that they made lost me on this generation. i refuse to by a 360. would you actually buy a product from a merchant tht sold you a defective product assuring tht it was safe, when they knew it most likely wasnt...

  • germanqr

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 6:28 am GMT

    Algolagnia:

    "I'll say it again, it was an online poll. Lol. It can't be taken seriously."

    This.

  • Algolagnia

    Posted Nov 19, 2009 4:05 am GMT

    I'll say it again, it was an online poll. Lol. It can't be taken seriously.

  • Darth_Tyrranus

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 7:18 pm GMT

    To all you people who keep complaining about how the samples were not random enough and that the failure rate is exaggerated:

    Statistically, regardless of actual percentages, you can't dispute the fact that the Xbox is four times more prone to break than the PS3 and 10 times more prone to break than the Wii. That alone should speak volumes to the extent of Microsoft's quality control, or it's lack thereof.

  • jhorto1

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 5:59 pm GMT

    @CaptainHerlock

    "@jhoto1

    Ever hear the definition of "insanity"? Doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result each time"

    Who said I ever expected a different result? I fully expect all of my Xbox 360s to fail within one year. That doesn't mean i'm not going to send it in for a free replacement. Not sending it in ... now THAT would be insanity.

  • VXLbeast

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 3:50 pm GMT

    Suprised? Nope.

  • Triton

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 3:36 pm GMT

    Bummer for them. My launch day 360 and Last years Elite both working just fine. But so are my PS3 and Wii.

  • mpeg3s

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 2:41 pm GMT

    This is not good!

  • kamizuka

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 1:16 pm GMT

    the only reson this console fails is because i i dont like it

  • Rohan75

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 12:56 pm GMT

    Had my for a year play a lot no rrod since i got it.

    My friend had it for 3 years no rrod plays more then me

  • atopp399

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 12:53 pm GMT

    I have an NES from 1987 that still works. I don't think we will be playing consoles for that long ever again, sadly.

  • horgen123

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 12:45 pm GMT

    Its way to much for all three companies in my opinion.

  • The_Dragon_Born

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 11:46 am GMT

    If console wars were about RROD and nothing else...then microsoft has already lost.

  • Flint247

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 10:59 am GMT

    While the fanboys fight and say "PS3 is the better buy now!" or "Get a Xbox 360 instead of PS3!",

    I hope to be enjoying both systems in the future. I want a 360 by Christmas this year and then a PS3 by my B-day in March next year.

    "Silly rabbit, fanboy-nism are for kids."

  • billyjunxix

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 10:50 am GMT

    @ sleepnsurf, sorry if i offended you i didnt mean any harm in what i said, thats just my own opinion and dont worry this isnt about any console war, thats what i just i experience from my X360 without any help from microsoft and i bought a PS3 which i'm happy right now. again sorry if i offended any one i didnt mean to bash any console, i just feel bad with my experience with the X360. peace

  • Gamesmasterx

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 10:49 am GMT

    @ChrisM95
    So I'm supposed to deny the truth am I?

  • madmaxx101

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 10:38 am GMT

    I havent had any problems...But I have only turned on my Xbox twice in the last year..but My PS3 works great since I got back in 2006

  • GOR_TAK

    Posted Nov 18, 2009 10:16 am GMT

    For any U.S. Xbox users who have been affected by MS recent over reaching Xbox bannings please add your experience to the civil suit investigation going on here...

    http://www.abingtonlaw.com/Xbox-Live-class-action.html

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