EA claims sales of EA's NHL series are up this year, a sure sign of Canada's culture spreading like spilled Tim Horton's coffee across the globe. NHL 12 sales were up 19 percent year over year, with first week sales for the series breaking franchise records, selling 451,000 copies at retail globally.

NHL 12 also had 6.9 million online connected game sessions last week, the most online games played in one week in franchise history and 17 percent more than last year's opening week.

All is not lost, America. Madden NFL 12 sold 1.4 million copies in its first week, so take comfort in that fleeting security -- and ignore that FIFA 11 sold 2.6 million in five days.