CAG Community Xbox 360 Failure Survey Results

CheapyD

CheapyD

Head Cheap Ass
Staff member
Feedback
14 (100%)
Last week I asked the CAG community to report on their Xbox 360s' health history.
Over 3500 registered CAGs responded via a simple online poll.

Here are the results:

360poll.gif


59% have experienced at least one Xbox 360 failure.
 24% had more than one Xbox 360 fail or one 360 fail more than once.

While I do believe these results accurately reflect the CAG community experiences, I have no way of knowing if these results apply to the general public. It's probably safe to assume that members of an online video game community use their systems more than others. I'd imagine that increased use could lead to increased console failures.

In order to keep the survey simple, I only asked if CAGs experienced one console failure or more than one failure. If I included more options, we would have a more accurate representation of the actual percentage of console failure.

Since 24% responded that more than console failed, if we give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and assume that this group had only two failures:

At least 67% of CAG-owned Xbox 360s have failed.

If we increase that number to 3 failures, the failure rate jumps to 72%. My guess is that the actual percentage of console failures is 70% or higher.

Although no survey is 100% accurate, I believe this one is pretty realistic for the following reasons:
  • We only took responses from registered users and we did not receive an abnormal number of new registrations during the duration of this survey. Also, in an attempt to keep people honest, CAGs were told their individual responses would be made public.
  • We had a large sample size. With over 3500 responses, even if there were hundreds of attempts to skew the results, the percentages would not change very much. It's also fairly safe to assume that skewing could occur in both directions, canceling each other out.
If you want to run your own survey, here's what I would have done differently:
  • Rather than having an open poll, randomly surveying CAG Xbox 360 owners (via email or private message), could have potentially been more accurate. Having an open poll such as this could be somewhat self selecting as it's possible that people who have had failures may be more likely to respond because they are upset. Then again, it is also believable that those who have not had failures are just as likely to respond to show their support for their console of choice.
  • Having more poll options for the number of console failures would have given us a better idea of the overall console failure rate. If many respondents experienced a high number of failures, that would significantly increase the overall console failure rate.
Since everyone loves charts:
360chart.gif
 
Well, I don't feel so bad knowing more than half of the people here had one fail. Maybe there is a trick like PS1. We should try turning upside down.
 
It's not a matter of IF your 360 will fail...but WHEN.

Great job Cheapy and hopefully this sparks something in the media and MS is brought to task for making such an unstable hardware product.
 
*Knocks on wood* Guess I'm luckier than most. Launch 360 & Thomson original both still kickin. Condolences to those who've had numerous problems cuz it's plainly obviously that failure rates are much too high.

The only system I've ever had break on me was a PS1 (never owned PS2) that finally died after being extended by going upside down for about a year. I wasn't too pissed cuz I wanted a dual shock system anyway.
 
I had an near launch 360 for almost a year, but I decided to upgrade to an Elite. The only problem I've ever had would be the transformers game freezing on me. but I cleaned the disc and had no problems after that. and up to recently i can think of one game freezing on me on my 360 but other than that everything has been good.

I do not have a Ps3 and if something were to happen to my 360 , I wouldn't hesitate to replace it. As much as I want a ps3 , the games just aren't there (FOR ME). I do not need a blu ray player yet.

But I digress, I love my 360.
 
I also see people speaking of messed up PS1's, now that I think aboutit, I've need had a problem with a console.

Just keep em' clean and in a good environment, basically, using your head will SOMETIMES extend the life of your system.
 
[quote name='moojuice']I think it would be interesting if those people who answered No/>6 months took this survey again in 6 or 6 months. Of the 7 I know who have had the RRoD, 5 of them died around the 1 year mark.[/QUOTE]Agreed. I think it would have also been interesting to see a timeline breakdown for the failure responses. In other words, of those who have had one or more failures, how quickly after they bought the system did it get the RRoD? I wonder how many of the failure responses came from launch systems. At this point, the idea that launch systems are ticking red-ring timebombs is more or less taken as fact, so it could be more instructive to know how many systems bought in early to mid 2007 have failed.
 
I would have liked to see an option for "My Xbox 360 never broke". I have a unit bought one year after launch.

Only problems: Mass Effect crashes all the time.
 
Cheapy, I think it's a fair representation. Despite the fact that it was an open poll, and people who had problems were more likely to post their problems in the poll, the fact that you posted it on the front page means that everyone who went to the index page would have seen it. I, for one, wouldn't have voted in the poll if I hadn't seen it on the front page.
 
Well that's pretty unacceptable, but what can we really do? I love the games and I've made the investment so I'll keep sending the thing back until I get a replacement that lasts.

Depressing findings.
 
60% failure rate is disgusting, there's no excuse for that high a rate of failure. The most worrying thing is that MS still have not fixed the problem.

Having said that my over 2 year old 360 is running fine, but I do suspect it's more a question of when rather than if.
 
Well it's obvious that 67% of CAGs don't know how to take care of their electronics. I have a launch day 360 and have had no problems.

^If someone comes into this thread and says something like that I will hunt them down.

I won't ever support another Microsoft console, which is funny since one of the reasons they entered into the gaming industry was to build brand loyalty among younger demographics.
 
I bet a lot xbox haters simply answered the poll anyway. If the real failure rate is above 70 percent, then MS might as well quit.
 
Very VERY interesting Cheapy. Hopefully some hotshot notices this. I know MS claimed the 3% and the other company claimed the 16%, but I'm thinking this poll is closer to the actual number than MS wants to admit.
 
A more comprehensive survey would have to factor in build dates (i.e. are older units worse?) and average usage patterns (i.e. do you play 4 hours per week or per day?) into the failure responses. My unit was bought in March 2006 and failed in Feb. 2007, just after they'd extended the warranty to one year. I play an average of 2-4 hours per week. OTOH, a guy here at work played his launch unit 4-6 hours per NIGHT and it was still humming along fine when he replaced it with an Elite just because he wanted the new hotness, not that he was having problems. Mileage definitely varied.
 
[quote name='foxhunt99']I bet a lot xbox haters simply answered the poll anyway. If the real failure rate is above 70 percent, then MS might as well quit.[/quote]

Well they don't have to, luckily for them they can afford the Billion dollars to pay for the "fixes".

I guess most companies in the world probably couldn't afford to take that kind of hit.
 
[quote name='moojuice']I think it would be interesting if those people who answered No/>6 months took this survey again in 6 or 6 months. Of the 7 I know who have had the RRoD, 5 of them died around the 1 year mark.[/quote]

You're right. I've had Xbox 360 for two years and I've had 2 failed consoles.
 
I have a launch console (late 2005 build, Hitachi drive) that has been a trooper, nary a single glitch or problem with it. The DVD drive works fine, no overheating or lockups, etc. I play it heavily, too, with over 20k gamerpoints and have had 16 hour gaming marathons without issue. So clearly there are some 360s out there that are fine. My console has always been in an open-air environment. Ironically, this 360 console of mine has been the most reliable of recent consoles I have bought, one of the few that didn't break.

Then again, my cousing got a 360 in March 2006 (early 2006 build, Samsung drive) and it RROD'd by Nov 2007. Problems started in early 2007 when he accidently left the console in an enclosed A/V cabinet with no airflow at all overnight running gears of war, when he opened the cabinet a wave of hot air came out and the console was RROD'd - but it worked upon reboot... Eventually though around 6 months later it totally died. His free replacement console from Microsoft now works fine.
 
This poll only considered red-ringed consoles. I sent mine in for repair due to dvd-drive issues (discs were getting scratched).
 
How long until this makes Kotaku? One hour? Less than an hour? More than an hour?

And while I'm sure that there are many individuals pathetic enough to lie both ways about the results, due to their sickening allegiances in their sad little "Console Wars", I think they would largely end up canceling each other out. Even if the results are skewed a few percentage points from reality, the sobering conclusion about this console's inexcusable failure rate remains. Also, rest assured, many of those without problems now, will be answering differently if this poll is conducted again a year from now. It took my Launch Day console almost two years to succumb to the inevitable.
 
70% sounds about right. Of the 14 people I know that own a 360, 12 have had at least 1 fail. 3 of those had more than 1, heck one of my firends had 3 fail on him.
 
[quote name='shieryda']This poll only considered red-ringed consoles. I sent mine in for repair due to dvd-drive issues (discs were getting scratched).[/quote]
Actually, this poll considered failures. For example, the video on my 360 became nothing but white static on the screen, but I had no error code.
 
I have my 2nd gen Atari 2600 (w/ the difficulty switches up front instead of in back) that still works last I checked (a couple years ago). Too bad I need 3 adapters to hook it up to newer TVs. :) And I bought my 360 used about 6 months ago and it still works. I heard PS2s were going bad too but I have my release version that's still going too. I so just jinxed myself.

Shieryda, you should just set it on fire, sprinkle some crack on it and get a new one through your insurance company.
 
This is why I went PS3 for my next gen cravings.. i refuse to buy a 360 until this issue is resolved...i probably will pick one up after a redesign..if there ever will be one.
 
Jeez, that's a high failure rate amongst the more hardcore.

I never knew about this little survey, and my answer doesn't change very much, but I have a 360 Premium that has lived for about 1 year and 3 months. One time it has red ringed and I thought I was about to be one of the screwed, but it turned out just to be a freak crash, and that the 360 was fine after all.
 
so far I have been lucky, I have an elite, but with M$oft ponying up for a 3 year
warranty for 360s, I am not too concerned about that, if it fails in the next 2 years, I send it in and get it fixed..
I wonder about the number of people that had RRoD issues, that used their 360 as a DVD player as well. or keep it on its side.
also the whole premise of putting their system on its side. I have never understood that, gravity is not your friend, a concept women understand all too well.
I have my original fat PS2 and Xbox, and I never play movies in them,
I am happy with my 360, and I am not in any hurry to get a PS3, too many PS2 games to play still.

edit: Still that is a fairly high % of failures, hopefully over time this will become a non issue
 
OK this is my personal breakdown. I got my "CORE" on turkey day 2006 thanks to CAG & Amazon $100 dollar deal. I used it religiously until the summer of 2007. I went away for 3 months and then resumed constant use sometime in October. My Xbox broke this February. So if you do the math=
I used the console exactly 12 months until failure. 7 months(December 06- June 07) + 5 months (October 07- February 08)
I am still waiting for Microsuck to send my system back, it's already been 3 weeks and I AM SAD :(
So to all of the pollsters who haven't had their Xbox for to long, just wait it WILL HAPPEN TO YOU!
 
My launch machine broke twice, it was replaced with a refurb that was rock solid until it abruptly RROD a week ago. It's now on the way to Texas.
 
I would be interested to see how big the failure rate discrepancy is between the various types of 360 owners, i.e. families, serious gamers (because I can't fucking stand the terms "casual" and "hardcore" anymore), college students, etc. It would be easy to say the more you play, the more 'serious' you are, the more likely the system will 'red ring' and the sooner it'll happen, but a case could easily be made for families and the communal college apartment/dorm/frat setting being even more taxing on the console. What I'm saying is that since CAGs are by and large serious gamers, the failure rate may even be higher than what we're collectively experiencing.

P.S. Did anyone see that this issue (but not the poll) made the home page of Yahoo! a couple days ago?

EDIT: Rushing to market.

If it's not utter crap hardware, it's being very overpriced with little software that justifies the purchase for a full year, as well as not having a quality online system and not being able to decide whether backwards compatibility is a selling point or something to eliminate on your SKU of the Month. This whole generation feels a bit, uh, 'transitional', if not slightly FUBARed.
 
PS2 didn't have it much better either - Sony's customer service was even worse back then, and it took a lawsuit & a judge's decision to get Sony to change its policy on replacements.
 
I bought a 360 in October of last year (HDMI pro model) and thought the RROD wasn't an issue anymore, but Cheapy's experience has now led me to believe a RROD is inevitable. I'll have my DS, PS2, and Cube to fall back on when the repair occur within the next 3 years.
 
I need to change my answer! After a couple of years, my 360 finally got the Red Ring of Death. :( 2-3 weeks of no 360 is going to kill me. No Halo 3, no Rock band ...
 
Idea for future surveys that may be able to avoid the issue of skewing of results:
In an effort to make it undeniably scientific you could set requirements for your sample that all participants be unopened, new console owners, who purchase live on day one. The survey crafter would then setup some sort of web 2.0 app integrated with 360voice program or gamertag online time log which could calculate total gaming hours per user, and a place to post a pic of your receipt of retail 360 purchase, serial number/manufacture dates. Owners would have to register within days of console purchase. We could then differentiate among the light and heavy users and take that into account as far as failure rate goes. As well, there would be notification system to inform the survey crafter by PM or 2-3 week system downtime when a machine has gone down. Who's got time on their hands to do this?

Edit: Issue I see in this working could be getting the word out to "casual" users who don't frequent the internet. Guerrilla marketing via dropping printout adds in game isles of big retailers?
 
[quote name='King Bahamut']PS2 didn't have it much better either - Sony's customer service was even worse back then, and it took a lawsuit & a judge's decision to get Sony to change its policy on replacements.[/quote] This is true. I had 4 ps2 go bad on me. My xbox 360 hasn't Rrod on me yet.
 
Why I refuse to buy anything but exclusive titles for this console anymore (now that I have a ps3, too).

I love my 360, but it died about a month ago after 16 months. Though its resurrection has been problem free, the console's as noisy and hot as ever.

Still, the numbers are shocking. This polls seems representative, however, if true than why no recall (unless such actions are only taken to ensure public safety)?

CheapyD, have you tried to get a response from MS or the govt.? I think we all know what to expect, but given the breadth of this survey it might provoke a different response.
 
Even if this poll is off by half that would still mean that 1/3 of the consoles die, which is still unacceptable. Hell the poll would have to be way off for it to be anywhere near an acceptable failure rate.
 
wow 59.04% have had a failure of at least one 360.which seems right cause almost everyone on my friends(48 people) list it seems has had a rrod me included.
 
I think blaming that the community "uses their machine more" is silly. Its meant to be played. Clearly the machine is just defective by design. I imagine every 360 out there would eventually fail its just by using it you accelerate it although my machine wasn't used a whole lot and was in quite a good environment yet still died.
 
Question; did anyone with a falcon installed 360 have their 360 RR'd? Kinda curious since I had plans to pick up a 360 next month.
 
People are making such a big deal out of this. As long as it gets replaced free of charge in a timely manner, who cares. Yes, my system red ringed. I played my PSP until it came back. Anyone remember the "lines" in the first Gameboy? The overheating PS1 that you had to turn upside down. The PS1's optical drive plastic parts that melted. This weekend a lot of people found out their Wii's had to be sent in for "cleaning" (read: adjustment) when they tried playing Super Smash Bros.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top