Redmond’s Microsoft Corporation has decided to extend the warranty of their Xbox 360 game console from 90 days to a year. The change was announced Friday, December 22, 2006.

Although Microsoft stated that the reason for changing the warranty period was to bring the U.S. and Canadian warranty length up to pace with what Microsoft already offers in many other countries, the change has no doubt also been influenced by the fact that the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3, the primary competition for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console, both have had a one year warranty since launch.

Microsoft also stated that customers who have already paid for repair services on their Xbox 360 game console and have owned the console for less than a year will get their money refunded.

The Xbox 360 has suffered various issues in the past, beginning with faulty heatsink installation in the original launch units. Most recently, a glitch in an update caused a number of updated Xbox 360 consoles to require professional repair. Although these issues are an annoyance to consumers, in most cases Microsoft has acted quickly to rectify the problems.

The complete warranty is already posted on the Xbox 360 website here.