It is well known by now that after Microsoft released the Kinect peripheral for the Xbox 360 during November that they managed to move 2.5 million units in just 15 days. It also turns out, for the same month, that the Xbox 360 managed a massively popular showing and took the cake of the console sale market. According to a report referenced on All Things Digital, the best-selling console’s sales jumped 68% compared to last year November.

The report released today is limited to trends that occur at physical retail locations, but from that vantage point, the Xbox 360 platform accounted for more than 40 percent of total industry sales. NPD analyst Anita Frazier reasoned the gains were driven by the successful launch of Microsoft’s Kinect, the Nintendo Wii-like motion detecting game accessory that works with the Xbox. The Kinect led Xbox 360 accessories to account for 60 percent of that category’s dollar sales.

Microsoft started selling Kinect halfway into November, and after only 15 days Microsoft said it had sold 2.5 million.

In general, NPD says the gains made last month, due to Microsoft’s successes and holiday discounts, were good enough to offset the majority of declines that occurred in 2010. “We expect a big jump in sales in November due to seasonality and the influence of holiday, but the change this November over October is bigger across most platforms than it was last November,” Fraizer said.

While it’s unlikely that all the homebrew hacking going on with the newly unveiled Kinect is the cause of this sudden surge, it certainly isn’t hurting.

Furthermore, with the upcoming holidays of December, the Kinect will probably be a major gift purchase—video game systems generally are, and the stunning popular momentum and advertising juggernaut of the Kinect will probably put it on the top of to-buy lists. It’s doubtful that this continued popularity will wane this month.

The versatility of the peripheral also speaks volumes to it use by regular users. Allowing families to eschew controllers and still interact with the device makes the center of some of the advertising bent Microsoft has taken towards families, bringing them together in the living room in front of television and gaming console.