Very good post OP. That facts are all there.
Them being lucky with Uncharted is nothing to do with them however, its Naughty Dog and their fans. Like you said, at least half of Uncharted DF's sales came from good word of mouth of Uncharted 2.
The one thing they seem to have done right this gen is release the God of War HD collection. It sold very well and no doubt introduced many gamers to the series, which is why GOWIII sold so well.








