EA has just sent us word that Madden 09 has made $133.5 million in retail sales for the month of August. This is a roughly 6 percent increase over last year’s game. More importantly it means that Madden made more money than any of the top films for the month of August. Woooo, videogame industry, way to stick it to those dirty movie makers. You didn’t have to be Nostradamus to have predicted this happening as gaming has been routinely making more money than the movie business recently, but it still is some good news for those hoping gaming will garner more respect (here respect = money).

Then again last month was August and while it did see some major motion pictures being released (Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express) we all know that August is the beginning of the movie down season. It’s that empty spot between summer and Christmas when Hollywood dumps the stuff they’ve been holding onto all year because they knew it wasn’t going to make money. Bragging about Madden making more money than any movie release in August is like Mario bragging he just defeated a goomba; it’s not that challenging.