Confident that its console is built to last, Microsoft has announced that the warranty of its next generation console, the Xbox 360, has been extended from 90 days to a full year in the United States and Canada to be in line with other territories around the world.

The news applies to both would-be purchasers and those who already have Xbox 360 and are still within their first year of ownership Effective today.

Customers who experience hardware issues with their Xbox 360 within one year of purchase can have their consoles repaired at no cost. Moreover, the new warranty policy is retroactive, so consumers who may have already paid for an out-of-warranty Xbox 360 repair within one year of purchase will be eligible for reimbursement of their console repair charges.

Customers who have already paid out-of-warranty repair charges within their first year of ownership can expect reimbursements for the amount of their console repair in approximately 10 weeks time.

Reimbursements will be automatically distributed, so customers need not contact Microsoft.

Customers who have questions regarding this policy change or experience any hardware issues should visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/contact where they can check their warranty status, find troubleshooting information for common issues and find Xbox support contact information.