EA Sports is ramping up the hype machine for its very crucial FIFA franchise, as it has issued out a new teaser trailer for the latest installment, FIFA 10. Thankfully, it's not your average teaser trailer, as though it is short, it does contain actual gameplay footage. It looks like the one big improvement for this year's version will be bullet time.

Wii Fit has been selling extremely well, taking the top spot for the seventh week in a row, Chart-Track data shows. In fact, a record of nine weeks in a row was set by Who Wants to be a Millionaire (no platforms mentioned), and Nintendo's Balance Board bundle is on pace to tie that record should it frequent the top spot for the next two weeks.

Unsurprisingly, soccer football game FIFA 09 managed to take the second spot, pushing last week's second place holder, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, down to third. Interesting to note is the inclusion of Battlestations: Pacific on the list. The game only released in the UK last week for Xbox 360 and PC, and managed to win the battle for last place, taking up the tenth spot.

Just before the deluge of GDC 2009 news started this week, Travis Boatman, VP of worldwide studios at EA Mobile, confirmed the upcoming release of a veritable smörgåsbord of EA franchises coming to the iPhone. Today, we have confirmation from Meghan Rathman (representing EA) of the exact titles on the way to the iPhone/iTouch as well as a handful of screens from Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Unfortunately, according to Ms. Rathman, the rest of the games in development are "still too early" and don't have screens. Considering the turnaround time on iPhone/iTouch games though, we're willing to bet you'll see those shots by the end of the week pretty soon!

The full list of games we received from EA is as follows: Tiger Woods PGA Tour, The Sims 3, FIFA, Madden NFL Football, Spore Creatures, Mystery Mania, Wolfenstein RPG, American Idol, Connect Four, Battleship, Need for Speed, RISK, Monopoly and Clue. Differing from reports at the GDC Mobile event earlier this week, we're seeing the addition of The Sims 3 and Need for Speed. In turn, we're losing the first SSX in two years, Red Alert, NBA Live 10, American Idol, Star Trek. But hey, Tiger Woods!

The press release from EA on Tiger Woods PGA Tour tells us that the game is of the "touch" rather than of the "shake" variety, comes with achievements and offers a way to compare achievements with your friends. Of the key features listed, notably missing is "playing against friends wirelessly," though it does promise the ability to "affect your ball spin direction" using your finger. Those are comparable features, right? We'll keep on EA and let you know as soon as we find out more on their upcoming iPhone/iTouch assault.

In time for today's free FIFA 09 Ultimate Team pack comes Trophy support. Check out the game's massive 50+ Trophy list, after the break.

According to EA-supplied FIFA 09 statistics, gamers around the globe (see: Europe) have averaged 1.25 million online games per day since its release this past Fall. Selling 7.8 million copies in 2008 probably factors into that number somewhat.

The statistical goods keep coming, with EA revealing that FIFA 09 is EA Sports' most successful online game, boasting a 321% increase over its FIFA predecessor in daily games played, and seeing 141 million games logged on all platforms since launch. That's a lot of gamers taking to the field to bend it like Beckham.

Eurogamer posted its "Top 50 Games of 2008" list last week, and was immediately scolded by EA boss Peter Moore for daring to exclude FIFA 09. This story was picked up by numerous sites, but one detail that wasn't so heavily reported were Moore's views on the game that came tenth, World of Goo. Moore said he was "surprised to see [World of Goo] up so high," despite ... not having played it.

For their part, 2D Boy (former employees of EA, no less) described the remark as a "compliment," and said they were "honored that World of Goo has crept this far into mainstream awareness." The pair have also confessed to deriving a "sick pleasure" from an "industry bigwig's indignant, self-righteous incredulity," though we suspect tongues were firmly placed in cheeks at this stage.

Peter Man Tell 'Em has kicked off '09 with a wildly entertaining review of Eurogamer's "Top 50 Games of 2008," headlining with the question on all of our minds: Where The FIFA? From the outset, Peter Moore's rant makes it clear that his is a man's world, summoning well wishes for his distinctly heterosexual males club -- also known as EA Sports Nation: "I hope you all have had a restful few days and have been able to get your sports fix in front of the TV without your wife/girlfriend/mom/mum giving you a bad time ... "

In Peter Man's real talk, there is no place for the seemingly sissy; games like Bangai-O Spirits or World of Goo. And Tomb Raider in the Top 50? No thanks. Who wants to play as ... a girl? (Note: Please excuse Boom Blox and Mirror's Edge's apparent lack of manliness -- trust Moore, it's in the game.) But, beneath the posturing exterior, Peter Man drops hints of latent insecurity. Though Moore has membership in an elite fraternity of buff game execs (true story: the presidency was decided by an arm wrestling match between Moore and Strauss -- guess who won?), he is just as susceptible as the rest of us are to body image issues perpetuated by games. How could Peter Man not be threatened by the sheer power of the Bangai-O bots? Or the Goo's killer combo of unrivaled flexibility and unnerving strength? Or Ms. Lara's emasculating sexuality?

The real tell, though, is this: "I was surprised to see Wii Fit included [at #25], which I thought would make the top 10," writes Moore. Clearly, this is a man obsessed with mastering the physical potentials of the body. A perfect fit for EA Sports, then. And a great businessman to boot. While the media continues the "Wii dissing," Peter Man is heaping on the Nintendo praise. After all, a man's world is measured by units. And no one put more units in gamers' hands -- heck! under their feet, too -- than Nintendo did last year.

You've been waiting patiently and finally Guitar Hero: World Tour releases to retail this week. It's a good week if you're looking for some new retail disc games to play. Also, if you're looking for some fun to be had from downloading WiiWare and Virtual Console titles. As well as the game shown above, past the break you'll find a long list of new experiences to enjoy on your Wii.

Tell us, what are you planning on picking up this week?

And here ... we ... go. We're halfway through October and it's finally started. The industry imposed holiday game torrent is upon us. We hope you've saved up some cash (or tidied up your GameFly queue) because, starting now, you're going to need it. Just look at all of these games:

• Dead Space
• Saints Row 2
• Blitz: The League II
• Golden Axe: Beast Rider
• Rock Revolution
• FIFA Soccer 2009

Yeah, this is going to be a tough couple of months.

[Via Joystiq]

Some interesting statistics about Electronic Arts' recently launched FIFA09 in the U.K. (via Chart Track):

• It is currently beating the sales rate of FIFA08 -- itself a bestselling UK game last year -- by 37.5%.
• It debuted at the top of the PlayStation 2, PS3, PSP and Xbox 360 charts.
• Of those sales, 42% were on Xbox 360, making it the 3rd fastest selling game on Microsoft's format (behind GTA IV and Halo 3), while 40% were on PS3 where it is the 2nd fastest selling game (behind GTA IV). 11% go to PS2, 3% to PSP and the rest for PC, Wii and DS.

Just goes to show you that no matter the culture or continent, EA owns football. See the full top 10 list of All Formats software sales after the break.

Do you have what it takes to be the world's best virtual football player? The FIFA Interactive World Cup begins this October. Players will be able to compete at one of 19 physical FIWC 09 Qualifier Events across the globe, kicking off in New Zealand on October 25 and covering countries all over the world, including Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Italy, South Africa and the United States. Players will also be able to compete for the 13 places available in the final for the best online players via the PLAYSTATION Network.

Not only will players be vying for fame, but the grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of $20,000 USD and a KIA Soul. The second place winner will receive $5,000 and third place will win $1,000. Players will be able to start practicing now with the demo available on the Store -- but to get in the competition, they'll have to buy the full game when it launches later next month.

For more information on the Inetractive World Cup, visit www.FIFA.com/FIWC.

The annual match-up between FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer is often a closely fought contest, though as last year's revelatory Wii version of PES ran away with the plaudits, EA has decided to play it safe: basically, it's copying the opposition.

Hence, FIFA 09 will ship with the same "point-and-pass" mechanics that received so much admiration in PES 2008, and we can't say we blame them. Combine this with EA's usual level of spit and polish, a Wii exclusive eight-on-eight mode, and a special casual-friendly mode with blobby, Mii-like players, and this year's winner may come from the EA camp. Hit the gallery for tubby versions of everybody's favorite soccer players, but sadly none of ENGLAND HERO Theo Walcott.

Here's the first trailer released for FIFA 09, the newest iteration of the popular soccer franchise. The game is looking great, though some may complain the character models don't look enough like the actual players. You also won't have to wait long to try it out for yourself: the demo will be available from the PSN starting September 11st worldwide.

Furthermore, EA has announced a new "premium service" (meaning it might cost money) called adidas Live Season. This service will provide a weekly update for each player's stats according to their performance in real-life games from the launch of FIFA 09 to the end of the 2008-09 season. It will be only available for Barclay's Premier League, La Liga BBVA, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A and Mexican Primera Division.

Finally, there's a gameplay video and trailer, after the jump.

Sure, we could spend this post laughing at the 360 games singled out by Official Xbox Magazine for having practically (and literally in some cases) no remaining online communities. But we don't want to do that. We want to lift up, we want to celebrate those brave, lost souls that just keep hanging in there.

So, good for you Jamoun Da Don, the last guy still playing FIFA 06. (Just between us girls, we thought 2007 was overrated as a year too.) Hooray for the eight people playing Tenchu Z that have found a way to get the sadomasochistic services they used to pay a girl in Chinatown hundreds for. Congratulations to all of you ... we couldn't be more horrified.