33 Percent of Xbox 360s Failing?
Posted by signup
According to anecdotal evidence provided by retailers. But is anecdotal evidence enough? Daily Tech conducted a non-scientific “poll” by calling several North American retail outlets and inquiring about Xbox 360 failure rates. The response? A resounding “least reliable gaming console in recent history.” Ouch, and scary-bold words, but what do they mean?
Maybe nothing, but probably something. Did you read about the guy who returned his Xbox 360 twelve times? How about an alleged Australian failure rate “as high as 30%”? Maybe you caught this gem about Microsoft deleting over 900 replies from the Forza 2 forums claiming the game was crashing Xbox 360s?
I’ve mentioned it before, but I had a 360 meltdown a while back myself. It happened to correspond with a rampant Internet rumor that the game Dead Rising was killing systems (one of my favorite games on the platform). I sent my system into Microsoft, got it (or a refurbished unit) back, no harm no foul, and it’s been chomping data and spitting heat in an enclosed cabinet for the last six months problem-free. My personal experience = excellent.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say again that I’d really like to see Microsoft release internal tracking numbers. Give us date ranges with reasons for failure, or just debate Daily Tech’s numbers, though in the end, I certainly can’t argue with Microsoft VP Peter Moore when he tells 1UP “What [the] consumer should worry about is the way that we’ve treated him…Y’know, things break, and if we’ve treated him well and fixed his problem, that’s something that we’re focused on right now.”
