Speaking to trade mag MCV in a new interview, the Microsoft man claimed Kinect has provided a "shot of adrenaline" for the six-year-old home console, which is rumoured to be seeing a successor as soon as next year.

Asked if Xbox is still growing at this "late stage in a console lifecycle", Lewis said:

"We see it as about halfway through. But yes you are right, Xbox is defying the normal curve you might expect. There's no doubt that Kinect put a huge shot of adrenaline into the business.

"What we are now seeing is massive swathes of families and younger audiences flocking to it. As you saw at the press conference, we are now in line with what we projected at E3 2010."

Lewis went on to explain that Microsoft deliberately focused on families and kids first with Kinect, and now it's moving on to provide "complimentary" experiences for core gamers.

"What you won't see is us contriving that," he said. "What you will see is us using Kinect to enhance the experience and not detract from it. I don't think our core gamers will tolerate anything else from us."

Posted: Jun 25, 2011 10:36 am

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/308963/ms-xbox-360-about-halfway-through-its-lifecycle/