Game Informer recently conducted a survey of 5000 participants to see the hardware failure rates for the current-gen consoles. It'll come as no surprise to see the 360 in the lead with a 54.2% failure rate. The PS3 had 10.6%, while the Wii only had 6.8%. Before fanboys begin to bash the numbers, they've given other statistical information to justify the rates. And remember, the sample size was only 5000. However, the most interesting piece of information from the survey was that only 3.8% of the people who experienced a hardware failure would never buy a 360 again.

The Xbox 360 breaks five times as often as its closest failure-prone competitor, the PlayStation 3, a print edition-only Game Informer survey found.

The poorly manufactured, red ring of death-prone console has a 54.2 percent failure rate, compared to 10.6 percent for the PS3 and the Wii's 6.8 percent.

The magazine surveyed nearly 5,000 readers to get the data. And while the 360's rate is alarmingly higher than the others, it's still bafflingly low because it blows the mind to imagine that 45.8 percent of the consoles have not broken. Also, Microsoft's numbers are inflated because 360s are used the most of the three consoles. Results said 40.3 percent of 360 owners use the console three to five hours a day, compared to 37 percent of PS3 owners. Meanwhile, the plurality of Wii owners (41.4 percent) play their consoles less than an hour a day.

Microsoft also seized the gold medal for unhelpful customer service, taking nearly a month to repair or replace a console, while Nintendo and Sony stuck closer to a week. Only 37.7 percent of Microsoft customers found the company's customer service was "very helpful," compared to 51.1 percent fo Sony and 56.1 percent for Nintendo.

The most shocking number from the survey — and frightening from a consumer perspective — is only 3.8 percent of Xbox 360 owners said they'd never buy another Xbox because of hardware failure.

McClubbin via consumerist.com »