Gamespot found a survey that pegs the failure rate of Xbox 360s at 23.7%, which I've rounded up to the much more sensational and attention-getting "1 in 4" for my headline. I hope it got your attention.

The figure comes from a company called SquareTrade that offers independent warranties on electronics. It surveyed 16,000 console systems it had serviced over the last two years. How did everyone else do?

By contrast, the study found 10 percent of PlayStation 3s surveyed failed within two years of purchase, as did 2.7 percent of Wiis. However, SquareTrade pointed out an April survey by media-research firm Nielsen that concluded the Wii is the least played of the three major consoles, being used for only 516 minutes per month. By contrast, the Xbox 360 is played over twice as much (1,191 minutes per month), with the PS3 lagging slightly behind it (1,053 minutes per month).

However, if you're thinking of buying an Xbox 360, don't let this deter you. The survey notes that the failure rate of the newer iterations of the Xbox 360 has dropped to about 4%, which makes for a terribly dull headline.