I believe that often people tend to have an idea of what they what when making a big purchase. With the recent holday season I have had to make a number of console reccomendations lately and I am wondering : What should my criteria be? Why should I reccomend a certain console for a oparticular person.?

Keep in mind that I do not work on commission, so I have no incentive to raise the price.

Also, I do at least take a small degree of pride in my work. Or at least, I take pride in being able to help out gamers (often by way or their parents or other relatives)

I personally love the Wii, but I don't really see the point in trying to sell a person a console that might not "fit" them. Usually with the Wii a customer wants it or couldn't care less. There is no middlground, unlike the Ps3 and 360. Often I find customers trying to weigh which one to purchase.

Recently, I did reccomend a Ps3 to a gentlemen mostly because he was willing to buy a separate Blu-Ray player and was deeply interested in upgrading his movie collection-- in addition to gaming. I try to match a console based on interests or taste in games.

does any one else have any preferrred methods for matching customers or friends with consoles?

I am gonna head to bed- I work wierd hours- so I will check this thead later.

edit= spelling errors = tired    

You should always recommend what you like regardless of that consumers tastes. After all people will always like what you like and if they don't, well then they are just weird and don't deserve to talk to you.

I think it sounds like you're doing a great job! A customers taste is probably based on many factors you can't possibly know or understand, so helping them towards the product best suited for them is, of course, very good!
I wish all store clerks were like that, there are too many asses pushing hardware on people that they don't need, want or know that they want.

Well, I'm not working in a game store yet, but will (hopefully) be doing so soon.

I would ask them what their incentives are to buy the console. If it's because they'd been over a work colleagues for a few nights and played Halo, I probably wouldn't be reccommending them the PS3.

I would also ask them whether or not this is their (or their child's) first console. IMO, there'd be zero point in someone dropping £300 or so on a PS3/360 if they just can't get into gaming. So a DS would be less of a risk for them, financially.

Obviously, I'd bring in things like Xbox Live Vs Blu-ray, and other technical tradeoffs if they're interested in both the 360 and the PS3.

However, I'd also make sure that if they're buying the console for their child, that it's the console the child asked for. If li'l Jimmy has been over li'l Timmy's place and played his Wii, and asks for one for his birthday. L'il Jimmy may not be so happy with a PS2, just because it's cost effective.

Tsk Tsk superchunk, now don't be mean

In all seriousness, it sounds like you're doing great, trying to find out what someone wants and match their choice to that. If you continue having the time to do that (i.e., spend lots of time with each customer to figure out the best fit), i'd say continue doing that.

--Begin Wii Fanboizzzz--
By that I mean recommend the Wii to everyone.
--End Wii Fanboizzz--

--Begin PS3 Fanboizzz--
Recommend PS3 to everybody!!1
--end PS3 Fanboizzz--

--begin 360 Fanboizzz--
*Sigh*, do I have to continue? You all get the point.

Edit: I didn't press post twice...

I'd say to not reccomend any particular console, but instead list all the pros and cons of said consoles... and then let them decide.

Also make sure to use qualfiers.  For example when comparing PS3 with Xbox 360 online you might say...

"It's been my expierence that more people are generally satsified with Xbox live for online gaming however you have to pay for the service unlike the Playstation network which is free."

"Most consider 360's biggest game to be Halo 3, which has a giant budget."

"Many people who own PS3 consider it one of the best blu-ray players out there as it auto updates firmware via wifi that are otherwise considered a pain to update by hooking up to you computer."

etc.

Good for legal purposes.  Honestly.   

I'd ask questions like this:

Would you be mostly gaming alone or would you like to game with friends/family?

How important is online gaming to you?

Do you find motion controls to be exciting and immersive, or do you find them tedious and awkward?

How important are graphics to your game experience?

How important is the price of hardware and software to you?

Do you think you'll want to buy many games or only a few of the most interesting ones?

What other gaming platforms do you own already?

Are you interested in watching HD movies?

Do you like violence in video games, or hate it?

Based on their answers to questions like these, you can formulate what console would best suit their preferences. You will probably find that no console is quite a perfect match, but c'est la vie.

I think the OP is generally a good idea, and most of the questions by famousringo look like good ones.

This is very simple:

Wii - this product should be offered to those without a wallet, and who are looking for cheap fun, or those loyal to Nintendo, or fantasize about having dinner with Princess Peach.

360 - this product should be offered to those with greasy hair, excessive acne, and large glasses (essentially those who look like BG), those who do not mind sending their console in once a month for repairs.

PS3 - this product should be offered to those looking to enter the High-def market, and gaming market, those who want quality, and features. Also to those who want the ultimate media experience with the fewest number of boxes sitting next to their TV.