Oh sure, word of mouth definitely has some bearing on it all, and the year head start DEFINITELY helps increase your gaming library, as least in terms of shelf space (you and I probably ignore 95% of the games in stores), and in THAT regard I guess I can see your point. But if your talking about the "Quality" of the titles, your not really going to be dissapointed in either console. One has preferences and that's always important.

I just want to know the big thing that's really setting it apart in America. The rest of the world is waning thin of the head start, but America is the only country which is holding it's ground for the 360. Granted, PS3 sales did pick up to around the same level's, but it's not "the games" in the rest of the world. What is it here?

I honestly believe it's Microsofts marketing. The fact that I could get Master Chief slapped all over my mountain dew, the fact that I can see Cards for Xbox live at 7-11 or Gamestop, I just think Microsofts put so much more awarness of the console's existance in America that Sony has.

I don't think "buying American" has anything to do with it.  Americans are not country loyal.  Remember, we are a band of (relatively) recent immigrants.  We have people who live permanently in this country but compete in the olympics for other countries, root for their teams when they visit the U.S., live in "little versions" of their own country with localized signs, businesses, etc.  We aren't die-hard "buy American!" people.  If that were the case, American car manufacturers wouldn't be on the brink of bankruptcy and Wal-Mart would be out of business (90% made in China).  I hate Microsoft with a fucking passion.  However, there are many great games on the 360 and I enjoy playing them.  If I could take every game from the 360 library that has a metacritic of 50% or higher and get all the titles Microsoft has coming down the pipe moved to the PS3, I'd switch to my PSWii exclusively.  That isn't going to happen so the 360 remains in my living room and I both enjoy the games on it and look forward to many more in the future.

I agree with this statement almost entirely :P My personal preference is towards the PS3's library, in which I have more titles that I've enjoyed, but I think that's just part of my taste for Sony's style. And in terms of sheer volume of games, I can definitely agree with your statement. I just get tired of people saying it's the "quality" of the titles... A high quality game isn't guaranteed to sell well >_>;; so technically it's the "awarness of the high quality titles" which would move consoles, and like I stated, not all top rated games sell well.

I still want to know why the 360 only really sells in AMERICA though. Doesn't all of the world have more titles for the 360 than the PS3? What's the deal?

@ChronotriggerJM

    I am not sure why you can't believe it's the games. I chose Xbox 360 over PS3 because I knew of more games on the system, and coming out for the system, that I'd want. I do believe the games on a system affect the choice of many people.

Many people indeed :P Most of which being informed. But sadly, the informed gamer doesn't make up the bulk of the people buying it.

I'm gonna ask the question just one more time (that's probably a lie I'll mention it again I'm sure), if the 360 worldwide, has more games, more high rated games, more appeal to the mass market, why is America the only country buying it in droves? I think that's what this thread is about.

You forgot the /fanboy there buddy.

Thats my view on it.  Realistically I'd say it's both because of marketing and that the 360 has games that fit American tastes better.

And that's a damn good reason, but you'd think with the 360 supporters touting it as the "most diverse and best library", that it might hook somewhere else... It's got more JRPG's than the PS3, yet sells worse in Japan, more racers and sports games, yet sells worse in Europe... Just something in the American water I guess :P

You might be asking the wrong question then.  Instead of asking "Why is America buying the 360", you should ask "Why aren't Europe or Japan or Country X purchasing the 360 at the same rate?".

It's not even opinion, the 360 has a larger and more diverse library of games, proveable by any game database, as well as higher ratings and higher sellers across the board.  Europe has not been receiving the same level of support for Xbox Live as America, nor all the same games we get.  Plus Europeans seem to be more put off by the RRoD fiasco, while Americans don't seem to mind as much.

In Japan, the Xbox 1 was a terrible seller.  It had a poor game library, was big and ugly (Japanese like cute, tiny things), a controller that was too big for them.  It left a horrendous stain and stigma on the xbox brand, which explains the current state of things over there.

When you learn to ask the right questions, you'll get the answers you seek :P

That's a good question.  Certainly in Japan, the 360 libary isn't as big as there are a LOT of games that aren't localized.  It would be interesting to get a count of titles available in the local language for the PS3 and 360 in all three regions -- Japan, Major European languages, and the U.S.  I believe the 360 is still doing well against the PS3 in the U.K, isn't it?  Perhaps beacause of the English Language... That would bring us back to the "games" discussion as I would suspect (though I need some confirmation) that the number of titles available in English in the U.K. are similar to the U.S.

I believe there is more to the whole RROD issue than people are willing to admit.  Most of my 360 owning cohorts are fully aware of the RROD issue and are more or less fine with it.  Their thoughts are that, hey, it has a 3-year warranty and if it breaks, I'll just sent it back or buy a new one.  Americans are a bit more financially wreckless than most of the rest of the world (higher consumer debt, bankruptcies, low savings, etc.)  From my trips to Europe, I've found Europeans to be a bit more cautious when it comes to quality.  They will spend the money to get better quality.   The RROD issue probably is quite damaging to Microsoft in Europe.  Japan has two issues.  First, the same as Europe -- they like high quality goods.  Second, they ARE nationalistic and will buy the Japanese brand over others -- especially in electronics...  If Microsoft had built a quality product from day one, the 360's lead over the PS3 lead, worldwide, would have been, in my opinion, insurmountable at this point in the race.