I think a small part of it is a "cool factor" which attracts that casual crowd. Nintendo had that with the (S)NES and Wii, even the N64 to an extent, but they lost plenty of it with the Gamecube. Sony totally had it with the PS1/2, but lost a portion of it in 3. Sega only ever really had it with the Genesis. MS has really started to take that cool factor and that's partly due to the rise of Master Chief and the Spartans, but other games like Gears of War and Forza. These are big new games to many people in the last few years and having something like kinect on the side helps seal the deal for many. Now, it's hard to say how much longer that cool factor will last, or if MS will drop the ball and lose it with the next concole, but at this moment in time, I see more kids and adults wanting to play an xbox 360. It sounds cooler, is associated with more mature themes, but also gives you cartoony stuff for the kids. People have been hearing about the xbox for about a decade now and they're just finally starting to embrace it. Who knows though, maybe Apple will succeed in getting people to play their iPads on their TV within the time span of 5 years.
