Amid recent criticisms that Xbox 360 has an astonishingly high failure rate compared to competing game consoles, Microsoft has volunteered to extend its warranty. Effective today, the coverage for Xbox 360 has been extended to a full three years worldwide. The new warranty is extended to existing Xbox 360 customers as well as any new buyers - so, if you’ve got an Xbox 360 you’re covered for three years from the date of purchase.

The most common general hardware failure for the Xbox 360 is known as the red circle of death. What should be a green led power indicator turns red in a circle around the power button. Microsoft says the problem has afflicted only about 8% of its units moved, but some retailers are saying it’s much more. 

Microsoft promises it’s launched a sweeping investigation into the cause of the hardware failure. This can’t be good for operating costs. Microsoft says it’s taken a 1.05 billion dollar to finance this new warranty policy.

Your warranty experience with Microsoft starts with a call to the 800 number. Both Brando and I have had firsthand experience with our Xbox 360 failures, but in both cases Microsoft’s service was top notch, returning our fixed game systems within a week of sending it out.

With some 1,700 components and nearly 500 million transistors inside the Xbox 360, finding the source of its infamous overheating problems could be a lengthy investigation. Is it possible that the Xbox 360 simply wasn’t ready for its release date and was pushed out a little too soon? It sure looks that way. At least Sony had the guts to delay the release of PS3 when it looked like getting all of its technology together was in trouble.