Xbox 360 failure rate at 16%

Warranties firm compares consoles

Electronic warranties firm SquareTrade reckon the failure rate for the Xbox 360 console is 16.4%.

1UP.com report that this figure is based on a survey of 1,000 consoles, while samples selections of several hundred put the respective PS3 and Wii failure rates at 3%.

The Xbox 360's heat-related 'issues' look to set to climb as the console ages, according to SquareTrade boss Steve Abernethy.

"It is reasonable to believe these failure rates will increase over time, since the Xbox 360 failure issues tend to increase with prolonged use where overheating appears the main culprit," he offered.

The "red ring of death" was estimated to be to blame for 60% of the failures noted.

Responding to these problems, Microsoft last year extended Xbox 360 warranties to three years, admitting that problems were "unacceptable".

More on this soon.

By Luke Guttridge