It's likely due to the long term result of the 360's early launch and the PS3 awful first year. In that time Sony lost quite a lot of the more hardcore gamers, who are the ones buying the most games in the long run. It's likely why MS chose to do all those 180's, rather than be confident in their brand and believe it would win in the long run. Missing out on those first buyers is just too much of a risk, as Sony saw this gen and MS saw last gen.

Doubt it.

US buys more soccer games than Europe? Surely that can't be right.

As for the OP. It's because of shit ports. If you own both consoles what reason would you have for buying the shittier version. This then has a knock on effect since you make friends on the game and get your next game for the same console even if both version are identical.

Thats pretty easy. Microsoft got the early adopters to get more 360's between the first and second year. Most of their early adopters came from America and Europe, whom make the most purchases. They also made sure their commercialization was high on annualized titles and AAA third party. The early adopters are the most hardcore. Whoever gets the early adopters first gets the higher sales as time goes on. The PS4 looks like they will have them this gen.

"Oh man, that PS3 version of -insert title here- is obviously graphically unimpressive! I'll buy it on my 360 instead!"

Come on now. Are you saying a vast majority of games play better on the 360 and that is THE reason why everyone buys the 360 versions over the PS3?

I can't wait till next gen, because the PS4 is obviously  a powerhouse and the differences will not be as negligible as this gen, and your saying the minute differences are the reason.

And that is why the majority of multiplat games still sell more on X360.  If sony didnt have the majority of JRPG games exclusively then X360 would have an even bigger lead.

You need to remember the PS3 has sold more hardware than the X360 yet X360 has sold more software.

I meant to say something else, thanks for calling me out.

This is a curious post.  I'm not really sure what you think it proves.  That western developed games often sell better on the 360?  I think everyone knows that.  Japan, which is a significant part of the Playstation fanbase, doesn't buy these games at a very high rate.  I mean, what would it prove if I showed a week with several Japanese releases?

As for total software sold, you do realize that, amazingly, it breaks down to about the same sales rate for each, right?  Go ahead, divide each total by the number of years each has been on the market.  If anyone thinks that the PS3 should have the same total amount of software sold despite releasing a year later ... well, tell me who they are so I can point and laugh.

Alot of the most popular software have bigger draw in the US (shooters.multiplayer games) then in EU/Japan. Also the PS3 has only just passed the Xbox360 in sales, prior years the 360 was ahead by a head and so would naturally have more software sales.

No, it is no secret that Western multiplats generally sell better on the 360. Not sure why you're having an issue comprehending this. There are about 10 million more 360 owners in the west than there are PS3 owners, so it completely makes sense. Notice how all of the games in your list are Western? The Japanese home console market is much smaller than in the west, so obviously most of the highest selling software will be on the console with a mostly Western install base, as opposed to the one with a mixed install base, at least when overall hardware units are similar numbers (which is the case with PS360 both at ~80 million)