We’ve all stumbled into a game store and heard the man (or, in extremely rare cases, woman) behind the counter blathering on to some poor parent about what system they should get their child and wanted to step in and inform them that usually retail employees know next to nothing, are often rampant fanboys and they should really go home and do some research for themselves. Of course we never do that, but I’ve always wondered what most employees at retail stores are recommending. Evidently so did Kotaku. They called up 100 retailers and asked what system they should buy their 15-year-old, male nephew.

The results are semi-suprising. The 360 dominated with 64 perecent of retailers recommending it for the child. With 15 perecent, the PS3 came in second - kind of. See the Wii only got one percent of by itself, but many retailers (18 percent) recommended that Kotaku buy their made up nephew a Wii or a 360 depending on what the child likes. Unfortunatley, due to the rules the Kotakians setup for themselves, they couldn’t ask them to elaborate and thus they needed a dual system section.

I think the best quote from a retailer has to be “The Wii is for younger kids - and old people.” Yea, my grandma totally digs cutting people in half in No More Heroes and my ten-year-old cousin can’t wait to get home everyday and rip the balls off of people in Manhunt 2. God, I hate gaming stereotypes.

The “study” shows us a few things. One, that game store employees still believe the Wii is only for young children (probalby not helped by the fact that most stores young children section is full of Wii games and nothing else). Two, the 360 is more popular than the PS3 with retialers, possibly because of the larger library or the fact that we’re in America. And three, it doesn’t matter what the store clerks say, every parent is buying their child a Wii whether they want it or not.