“It’s really, in an odd sort of way, a tale of two cities, of two sectors. The traditional packaged goods business has been a little challenged so far this year. We’ve seen a pick up in it of late – the month of September was stronger than the months prior, but it has been down low double digits. The other end of the world, online games that you download, games you would get by way of iPhone for example, that totally digital business is up so strong that it’s actually offsetting the challenge we see at retail. So the combination is up, [but] the retail business is down. I think there are probably more people enjoying games on mobile devices than all the consoles put together, but there are also more consumers enjoying games on PCs than all the consoles together, so there’s really a bigger market out there. One of the things, we all read the analyst reports, [is that] there’s such a focus on this research data forum that provides a report on console gaming because that’s what’s sold at retail. There’s an entire other world of download, online, all the things that are going on that doesn’t really show up in the surveys and I think that’s the future.” - EA CEO John Riccitiello

Hell, a huge part of EA's money is made through online avenues. I can understand why they want this stuff tracked better!

Link