BUHAY GAMER: A Phenomenological Study on the Personal, Cultural, and Socio-Economic Effects of Video Gaming

Abstract

Video gaming is usually portrayed negatively by the media. This study aims to determine the personal, cultural and socio-economic effects of gaming. This qualitative study seeks personal accounts from gamers themselves through interviews and focused group discussions. By knowing the gamers‘ lived experiences, the researcher sheds light to the effects of video games based on their own interpretations. As the gaming community continues to expand, so is the spectrum of gamers driven by different motives and possessing a variety of attitudes towards gaming. In assessing the gamers interviewed, they appeared to have enough self-awareness to manage their behavior both in-game and outside the game; they acknowledge that their gaming behavior is a conscious rational choice. Based on the accounts of the gamers themselves, though there are some negative effects, video gaming appeared more to be a benefit to them, in opposite to what has always been portrayed in the media.