In this article, I propose the theory of imperial play as a tool with which scholars can expose ideologies embedded into video games and video game culture and industry. While representation-oriented theories and methodologies help scholars think about the visual and narrative components of a game, analysis of representation fails scholars when we examine video games as simulations. With imperial play, I reimagine Laura Mulvey's male gaze through the lens of post-colonial theory and through Ian Bogost's concept of procedural rhetoric. While I acknowledge two key participants in the practice of imperial play, the game developer and game player, within this article, I demonstrate the framework by focusing on the experience of the player. Using examples from popular console and PC video games, I analyze embedded colonial attitudes within game missions, within the nature of the avatar, within the construction of the gamescape, and in regard to non-playable characters (NPCs).

中文翻译：

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帝国戏

在本文中，我提出了帝国游戏理论，作为一种工具，学者们可以利用它来揭示嵌入在视频游戏以及视频游戏文化和产业中的意识形态。面向表示的理论和方法论可以帮助学者们思考游戏的视觉和叙事成分，而当我们将视频游戏视为模拟时，表示法的分析将使学者们望而却步。通过帝国主义的演绎，我通过后殖民理论的镜头和伊恩·博格斯特的程序性修辞概念，重新构想了劳拉·穆维的男性目光。在我承认皇家游戏实践的两个主要参与者（游戏开发人员和游戏玩家）的同时，我在本文中通过关注玩家的体验来演示该框架。使用流行的游戏机和PC视频游戏中的示例，。