If your Xbox 360 has not failed yet...just wait...

Recently, a popular Video Game magazine surveyed over 5,000 video game players and found that an astonishing 54.2 percent of Xbox 360 consoles experienced severe hardware failures, more 5 times the rate than competing consoles. Sony PS3 showed a 10.6% failure rate while the Nintendo Wii was the smallest at 6.8%.

Even more alarming is the fact that of the Xbox 360 consoles that are repaired by Microsoft and returned to the owners...over 41% of those experience ANOTHER severe hardware failure, requiring yet another repair.

Remember, the bug-plagued Xbox 360 was at the center of a $1.1 billion warranty recall last year and is rather notorious for the "Red Ring of Death" hardware failure that in reality seems to happen at some point to every Xbox 360...at least all of them purchased prior to this year. With the drop in price this year of the console, Microsoft has actually sold a large number of the Xbox 360s this year over last year and that might explain why the failure rate is actually lower than most experts thought it would be. Interesting isn't it that a 55% failure rate is "better" than expected? Kind of like Bill Clinton championing the fact that he took Arkansas from 50th in education up to 49th (yee-haw!!!).

The most surprising stat from this survey, in my opinion, is that the bad experiences with the Xbox 360 reliability have not had much effect on their owners. In fact, only 3.8% of users said they would never buy another one because of the hardware issues and 36.4 percent actually purchased a second console. Just following Bill "Pied Piper" Gates all the way to oblivion.

"Microsoft stands behind the Xbox 360 as a superior entertainment console with one of the best warranties in the industry," a Microsoft spokesperson noted in a response to this damning survey. "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."

Well, it appears that not only is the Xbox 360 the "most played console" in the industry...it is also the "most often repaired" console and even the "most often repaired again" console.