After somewhat disappointing launches for Maddens 10 and 11, first-week sales for Madden NFL 12 seem to have bounced back a bit. USA Today reports that in its first seven days on store shelves, the annual football franchise moved 1.4 million units, a 10 percent increase over last year's opening week.

What could have been the cause of this bump? The incremental changes to the Franchise mode? The improved player animations? The relative beefiness of cover player Peyton Hillis? Some combination of all three? No, no. It's almost certainly the beefiness.