Nothing is better than getting home after a long day, grabbing your favorite beverage and sitting in front of the TV to do some gaming; maybe you’re going to chat with that friend you met in game or watch a movie on Netflix. Then, suddenly without warning it happens. The flash of your Xbox LEDs indicates a serious malfunction.

Sadly, this has affected many of us gamers, so much so Game Informer magazine decided to do a survey amongst their readership. A staggering 54.2% reported either the dreaded Red Ring of Death or an E74.

However, being the devil’s advocate, don’t let these findings scare you away from buying the 360. Results suggest newer models are less susceptible to overheating and the console is used on average more, by about 3-5 hours, than the PS3 and the Wii. So while M$ is making improvements on design and quality, it’s still a shame to know more than half of every Xbox360 in the wild has issues.

[Consumerist via Joystiq]