3. MS published games typically sell equally and better than Sony games.
This is highly debatable. Actually, it would be hard to make a statement like that at all.
Let me compare games published by Microsoft on the 360 with those published by Sony on the ps3. I am only including games that have been released in all three territories in this comparison (or at least games that have been released in both NA and the EU), and I am not including spin-offs like the various Buzz and Scene-it add-on discs. I also did not include games like Project Sylpheed or Campire Rain, games that Microsoft only published in certain territories.
Games published by Microsoft on the 360Games that have sold over 2 millionHalo 3
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Forza 2
Mass Effect
Games that have sold in between 1 million and 2 millionProject Gotham Racing 4
Crackdown
Viva Pinata
Project Gotham Racing 3
Perfect Dark Zero
Games that have sold between .5 million and a millionHalo Wars (will soon break a million, and eventually 2 million)
Ninja Gaiden II (recently went muliplat, surprisingly, but should hopefully break a million)
Lost Odyssey
Too Human
Kameo: Elements of Power
Blue Dragon
Games that have yet broken 500kBanjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (will near a million lifetime)
Lips (same as Banjo)
Ninety-Nine Nights
Shadowrun
You're in the Movies
Tenchu Z
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
Viva Pinata: Part Animals
Fuzion Frenzy 2 (deserved so much more =( )
Games published by Sony on the PS3Games that have sold over 2 millionResistance: Fall of Man
MotorStorm (heavily bundled, but not much moreso than Forza 2)
Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (not including PSN downloads)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
LittleBigPlanet
Games that have sold in between 1 million and 2 million:
Resistance 2
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Heavenly Sword
Killzone 2 (will break 2 million in a few months)
Games that have sold between .5 million and a millionSingStar
Socom: Confrontation (should break a million in 5-6 months, not including PSN downloads)
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift (will break a million by year's end, but won't get much further than that)
MLB '08: The Show
Warhawk (don't forget downloads!)
Games that have yet broken 500kLair
MLB '07: The Show (ruled out by MLB '08)
MLB '09: The Show (will be the first The Show title on ps3 to near or break a million)
Formula 1: Championship Racing
Folklore (no Others numbers)
Genji: Days of the Blade (no Others numbers)
NBA 07/08/09 (horrible series, and will probably soon be axed)
The might of Microsoft comes primarily from their marketing. They can make a big series go really big (Halo, Gears), but they often ignore the little stuff, causing them to go the way of Banjo and Lost Odyssey. Around 38% (10/26) of Microsoft's releases have yet to break half a million, and many of those never will.
Sony's big titles may not outshine Microsoft's, but they have far fewer titles struggling on the low end. Their games for the most part sell decently overall, barring exceptions like the horrible Lair. Also, when Gran Turismo 5 comes out, it'll be a high end seller on the level of Halo, balancing things out even more. God of War III will see success somewhere between Fable II and Mass Effect.