Redmond (WA) - Likely Microsoft’s final official announcement for the Xbox 360 before Christmas, the software giant announced today that it is extending the out-of-box warranty offered from 90 days to one year, in line with other countries but exorbitantly longer than the norm in America.

In a statement, Microsoft also said that anyone who had gone through official measures to repair an Xbox 360 system that is less than one year old will be issued an automatic refund of their repair fees. Don’t expect Best Buy to budge on that now virtually useless extended warranty that you bought, though.

The warranty is effective immediately on new consoles, and the warranty for anyone who purchased an Xbox 360 within the last year is automatically bumped to one year from the purchase date.