Microsoft:

2 10M+ sellers.

8 5M+ sellers.

21 1M+ sellers

Total of 1M+ games: 129M

Sony:

4 5M+ sellers

24 1M+ sellers.

Total of 1M+ games: 83M

Sources PS3 / Xbox 360

It seems quite interesting how Microsoft has outperformed Sony as a publisher inspite of the difference in the level of talent available to both parties in terms of inhouse development studios. I guess it shows than Microsoft has a better idea of what makes a game appeal to a wider audience going by the results of their publishing and the gap anecdotally widens with Xbox Live and some quite strong sellers and good promotions on that service as well like for instance the Summer/Winter of Arcade promotions.

Moving forwards into the next generation Microsoft seems better able to produce hits which shift the bar in terms of console sales and appeal rather than pleasing a small vocal audience. If you use past performance to predict future success then based on the current difference in performance I would have to expect than the Xbox Next will begin life with stronger software support than the PS4 given the natural advantages Microsoft has with leveraging the still formidible Windows empire and their ability to create hits with targeted game design and marketing.

As a publisher Microsoft has taken full advantage of their relative weakness compared to Sony in internal development talent because they lack the conflict of interest between supporting extensive internal development and 3rd party support. In a world where developers are constantly folding and reforming and talent/success is unpredictable, having fewer developers and more scope for publishing promising games seems like a better strategy for success. Even if the exclusives for the most part were timed, gamer's distaste for them is probably overshadowed by their success so I would pick them doing the same again over the first 2-3 years of the next generation as well by getting first dibs on promising 3rd party titles.

Whats weird is some of those Microsoft published games are multi platform.

well i guse you can say it's a different focus amongst Sony internal studios, and MS.

wait you say that ms is a better CONSOLE publishers and then lits GAME sales...?

this does not make sense to me

Microsoft doesn't always take control of published I.P. whereas Sony almost always does. It is easier to negotiate with a studio when you don't want to own their 'child' so to speak. This is what helped Microsoft snag significant exclusives such as Gears Of War earlier in the generation.

Successful. Arguably Sony has published better titles than Microsoft going by critical praise and awards but the data shows that Microsoft has simply sold better.

Well, you can't play sales.

Kudos to Microsoft, though. While cleaning out my closet, I dug up an old issue of EGM about a week ago and in it, they pretty much called out their strategy. With the exception of a few snags, things seem to have gone their way. The guys know how to make smart business decisions. I'd argue that Sony has taken more risks and they haven't panned out for them. We need both risk takers and successful product for the industry to continue so, no matter who's actually on top, I'm glad we have 'em both.

Interesting numbers for sure. The 360 list is heavy on Halo/Gears/Kinect. Two are developed as well as published (although a few titles are 3rd party for Kinect), so Gears of War stands as the huge winner for Microsoft from their 3rd party swaying. Meanwhile I don't think a single title on PS3's list was developed by a third party, unless you count Insomniac.

I don't see the future implications the way you do though, I think anything can change at any time going forward.

ok but my problem was more with the console - games part.

I dont see the relation in beeing a more sucessful console publisher to game sales. It would make them a more succesful game publisher sure not arguing that one.

Now this I can't argue with. Gran turismo is the best system seller. I actually wonder how their other higher sellers sell systems because uncharted and little big planet hasn't worked for vita. They aren't really on the level the others are by the look of it. But I don't know.