That is a really good question. I think the variation in sales figures simply show that the US/UK/ Continental Europe and Japan are simply expecting something different and you just can't satisfy everyone at the same time.
When I hear "XBOX 360 has the better online gaming experience" I think that online gaming is really important for many US gamers. Maybe you are just more into competition. I think that most Europeans simply enjoy singleplayer with a entertaining story or splitscreen games like Lego or Mario Kart. The competitive gamers are more likely to be found on the PC.
Integration of Facebook and Twitter... I personally know nobody who has a twitter account and most people are using facebook only casually. I know nobody who would put a game record on facebook. These features seem not to be very important and I often ask myself "why do developers take these features so serious? I have my PC/Laptop for the internet and I use my console mainly as a gaming device."
XBOX-Live... Microsoft charging for online gaming is simply not fair, since other platforms are offering the service for free. It may work in the US, but my friends owning a X360 simply refuse to pay. They say that Microsoft is taking advantage of a monopoly and they feel ripped off. I don't want to start an argument about this... but in Germany Xbox Live is surely hurting the reputation of Microsoft.
So, all in all I think that the common US/UK gamer simply has a different taste than a common European or Japanese gamer. What works in the US does not automatically work in Germany or Japan. The XBOX suceeded in bringing PC developers to the console market. So the userbase is simply split between console style-games and former PC-style games.
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