40% of Xbox 360 activity non-game, 53 million consoles sold

For years, Microsoft has been expanding the Xbox 360's capacities beyond gaming. Since the platform launched in 2005, the company has added a video and music store, Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming, as well as support for social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Most recently, the company brought high-definition ESPN events to the service, as well as improved video chat via the Kinect motion-sensing system.

Now, Microsoft is touting how its efforts to make the Xbox 360 more than just another console have paid off. According to a blog post by vice president of corporate communications Frank Shaw, some 40 percent of all Xbox activity is not related to gaming. The top non-game use for the console appears to be video, with an average of 30 hours of "video consumption" per month by each Xbox 360 user.

That number is more impressive when one considers the size of the entire Xbox 360 user base. Shaw also revealed that some 53 million units of the console have been sold to date, thanks to brisk sales over the past year. According to figures from the NPD group, the platform was once again the top-selling home console in the US during April, when it sold 297,000 units domestically. As of last month, the Xbox 360 topped the PlayStation 3 and Wii during 11 of the prior 12 months in US sales.