Xbox failure rate is 54%?

A recent survey of gamers reveals an Xbox 360 failure rate as high as 54%. Boy, that’s a lot of Red Rings...

This startling statistic comes courtesy of Game Informer magazine, which polled 5000 of its readers with questions about the reliability of their chosen consoles, how long they spent playing games each day and other such things.

With regard to the latter it seems that 360 owners are no more or less hardcore than their PS3 or Wii-playing counterparts. A little over 40% play the 360 between three and five hours each day, while 37% of PS3 owners and 41% of Wii gamers did the same.

Heavy usage may well be a factor in the 360’s widely-reported woes, then. Although that doesn’t seem to be as much a problem for Microsoft’s rivals – according to the poll only 10.6% of PlayStation 3s and 6.8% of Wiis suffered any similar hardware problems.

Microsoft, for its part, has not sought to deny or question the poll’s findings. Instead the statement issued in response accentuates the positive and highlights the increased reliability of newer hardware models:

"We are constantly improving the design, manufacture and performance of the console through extensive testing of potential sources of any problems. Xbox 360 is pleased to maintain the title of 'most played console' and the vast majority of Xbox 360 customers have enjoyed a terrific gaming and entertainment experience since their first day, and continue to, day in and day out," a Microsoft Spokesperson tells TGdaily.com.

And we guess there’s plenty of truth in that statement too – the latest Xbox 360 hardware (codenamed ‘Jasper’) is the most reliable to date and, yes, the 360 really is the most-played console in our office. Thing is, of the three we’ve got, all three have failed. One of them dying for a second time just after the warranty had expired. Gnnnh!

Anyway, what has your experience been – have any Xbox 360s failed on you? Still loving the big old ‘Box in spite of any problems?