Anyone even remotely familiar with the video game industry can predict the Nintendo Wii will be top-selling console of 2008, but exactly by how much is analyst territory. Daniel Ernst of Hudson Square Research has put to paper his predictions of the worldwide sales of all three current generation consoles.

According to GameDaily, Ernst forecasts that Microsoft will sell 11.2 million units of the Xbox 360 worldwide, Sony will sell 12.5 million PS3s and Nintendo will sell 23 million Wiis.

"Microsoft got the jump on the industry with a one-year headstart, but nine months after its the launch, the Nintendo Wii overtook the Xbox 360 on a global basis. While the PS3, has struggled out of the gate, we note that since last fall, the console has been outselling the Xbox 360 in Europe, and in the first two months of this year has even outsold the Xbox 360 on its home turf, in the U.S. (In Japan, overtaking the Xbox 360 was almost immediate). With its strong slate of software scheduled for the coming year, we expect a material acceleration for the PS3 this year, but we believe the Wii will sell more than the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined this year," he commented.

Ernst numbers of Xbox 360 and PS3 combined add up to 23.7 million, not quite less than the 23 million Wii project, but certainly not far off.

Although the sales split in other regions of the world differ greatly, the sales figures thus far in 2008 don’t show the Wii selling more than its competitors combined. During January, the PS3 sold only 5,000 fewer units than the Wii. But in February, the Wii widened the gap selling 432,000 units, as compared to 280,800 for PS3 and 254,600 Xbox 360 consoles.

With the release of highly anticipated titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV, which will not be on the Wii, it may be too early to declare a sales victor for 2008.