EA Sports' FIFA 12 is one of those rare sports games that is so fundamentally solid and entertaining, you don't really have to be a fan of the sport to appreciate it. That's probably part of the reason why the newly released game launched in such a big way, with EA confirming that its 3.2 million sold-through units qualify it as the biggest launch of 2011 and the biggest launch for an EA Sports title... ever.

Note that "sold-through" is not the same as "sold"; essentially, roughly 3.2 million copies of the game have been available in stores since the game's September 27 launch. The number isn't so much a reflection of how many people are buying it, but rather how much retailers are willing to bet that people will.

EA colors its press release with some other stats that are all meant to make you whistle and say to yourself, "Ooo, that's impressive." FIFA 12's sell-through is up roughly 23 percent over last year's release, which was itself a record-breaker. The mobile version of the game, available for iPhone and iPad, is also doing quite well, with 879,000 units sold and Top Grossing App status on "30 worldwide storefronts."

You might remember reading a similar story last week when Microsoft revealed that Gears of War 3 enjoyed a record-breaking launch that put it on top of this year's releases so far. That achievement was almost certain to fall at some point this holiday season, what with so many other major games still to come, but FIFA 12 is the first, setting a new launch record to beat.

What will do it next? Batman: Arkham City? Battlefield 3? Probably one of those two, at least until November's juggernauts -- Modern Warfare 3 and Skyrim -- start to arrive.