Initial sales of EA Sports' Madden NFL 09 "appear better than expected," Stern Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said Tuesday.

Some analysts and investors were concerned over lower pre-order numbers for Madden NFL 09, released this week, but first night retail checks conducted by Stern Agee showed that sell-through for the game is up "low single digits" over last year.

"If this trend holds in the near to medium term, we believe investors will view it as a positive," he said.

Bhatia said that his firm expects year-on-year sales of Madden to be down 10 percent, but he said sell-through could actually end up "flattish" if current trends continue.

He was also encouraged by strong initial reviews for Madden NFL 09. The Xbox 360 version of the game is garnering an average of 88 percent on Metacritic, with Future's Official Xbox Magazine calling it the "pinnacle of the modern Madden era."