Games worth discovering

Five weird places to play PlayStation games in Washington, D.C. using the PlayStation Portal

3K View2023-12-06

I’m a big fan of toys. I’ve always liked collecting, gathering, playing with, and testing out as many action figures, bikes, and gadgets as I could get my hands on.

My latest toy is the newly released PlayStation Portal. For those not in the know, the Portal is a remote player that you can use to access a PlayStation 5 from virtually anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection. At least that’s what they say anyway. I wanted to put this piece of tech to the test. So I thought, why not play some of my favorite games of the past year across America’s capital, Washington, D.C.?

#1 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 at the Washington Monument

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was one of the most anticipated releases of this year, and for good reason. It’s a continuation of a great series, and we get to play as Miles Morales once more, as well as Peter Parker while he goes through...let’s just say some serious changes.

Even if all of that hadn’t been enough to hype me up, Spider-Man is one of my favorite superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! So what better way to celebrate than to play this new game right in front of the Washington Monument. I may not have personally climbed the obelisk like Peter does in Spider-Man: Homecoming. But thanks to a hotspot from my iPhone 13, I was able to smoothly swing through the streets of New York City on my Portal.

#2 The Library of Babel at the Library of Congress

One of the stranger games I’ve played this year is The Library of Babel, a platformer inspired by a short story of the same name by Jorge Louis Borges. The game has serious futuristic vibes, beautiful hand-drawn animation, and a funky narrative set twenty thousand years.

The Library of Babel is impressive, so naturally I needed to test this game with my Portal in an equally awe-inspiring place. So I was off to the Library of Congress. Not having an available Wi-Fi connection, I was once again forced to use my phone’s hotspot to connect. But after a short wait, I was playing Library of Babel on the library steps as comfortably as on the couch at home. The second test was a pass.

#3 Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical at the National Archives

I’m a fan of musicals, so Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical had my interest from the start. This game succeeds in combining an all-star cast, interactive choices, and Broadway-style musical numbers into an easily digestible adventure. But even more impressive, it does all of that while using a backdrop of classic Greek mythology.

Washington, D.C., is a city filled with beautiful neoclassical architecture inspired by ancient Greece and Rome. Some places quite literally feel like a temple dedicated to a higher being. While playing Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical in front of the National Archives, I could only wonder if some ancient gods might be living among us. It was almost enough to get me to break out into song. Almost.

#4 The Division 2 at the United States Capitol Building

I’ve only just started playing The Division 2, but how could I pass up the opportunity to include it on this list? It quite literally takes place in the streets of D.C. The capital on the brink of collapse? Lawlessness in the streets? Rumors of an attempted coup in the capitol? It’s almost as if the writers of The Division 2 ripped the plot straight from national headlines!

For this one, there was no better place to take my Portal than to the US Capitol Building. That gave me the opportunity to jump into the game for some looting and shooting actually while also making sure everything was safe in the real-world D.C. And that being said, the test went pretty smoothly and I was only disconnected one time. Although… it makes me question why we dont have more public wifi in the District!

#5 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III at the Pentagon

This is the big one, and perhaps my most dangerous mission yet. Nonetheless, I was determined to head to the Pentagon, one of the most highly secured areas in the United States, and play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. Let me tell you, pulling out a big piece of tech randomly while my buddy stood there and took pictures of me was pretty nerve-racking. In fact, I was waiting to be told to stop at any time. But, like the members of Task Force 141, I would not be deterred.

The process of connecting to my iPhone’s hotspot was agonizingly slow, but I was able to connect and play! I’ll admit, though, that playing Call of Duty via a phone hotspot isn’t the most advisable. Still, this was a big win for the Playstation Portal, and an even bigger win for me for not being grabbed by special forces operatives and dragged into a room for questioning.. .

💬 Are you thinking of purchasing the PlayStation Portal? And if you have it, what do you think? Let me know in the comments.