Wedbush's video game analyst Michael Pachter is predicting that GameStop, who report Q1 earnings on May 23rd, will come in at or just above analyst expectations. Q1 covers sales from Feb., March, and April.

"We expect the company to report results at or slightly above the high end of its guidance," said Pachter, "and EPS of $0.17" -- slightly ahead of consensus EPS estimates of $0.16.

I never put much stock in what Michael Pachter, or video game analysts in general, predict and this case is no different.

Personally, I predict that GameStop will report earnings in the $0.20 - $0.22 per share range, beating expectations by a wide margin. My reasoning for this is that February sales for both hardware and software were very strong, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl debuted on April 23rd, giving it about 12 days of sales before Q1 ended on May 5th, and Guitar Hero sales have been brisk. Add in the crazy Nintendo sales numbers in general over the past three months and a more tightly run ship over at GameStop and you have the makings for a strong quarter.

After GameStop reports earnings on Wednesday, I'll be sure to let you know if I was right or wrong, and why.