Pros and cons of being in the East

[Kyle Orland]

So, this is the obvious question, but what do you like/dislike about being on the east coast. Here's a few of my picks:

Pros:
* Away from the echo chamber that I've heard develops in the San Francisco game journalism scene.
* DC area is prime position for the Serious Games Summit and interviews with Bethesda Softworks. (and that's about it, game-wise)

Cons:
* Have to pay ridiculous airfare to get to GDC/E3/PAX/Austin, etc. etc. (or convince an outlet to pay same).
* Never seem to be close to game demos (except for Nintendo, which comes to DC every so often)
* DC is much less vibrant than New York for gaming events.

[Matt Matthews]

OT already, but did anyone else go to the E3 in Atlanta way back when? I can't recall if it happened only once or twice, but that was fun. Way before I was writing, but a formative experience for me.

Would be nice to see more action on this side of the Mississippi.

At least we have one of the big companies out here -- Epic.

[Troy Goodfellow]

For me, a big pro is being close to the Microprose Diaspora - Firaxis, Breakaway, Big Huge Games, etc. And you have Mythic in Fairfax, the Boston developers aren't that far away...There is a lot of development on the East Coast.

I also like being three hours ahead of my West Coast editors since it means that I can work till 7 pm on an article and still meet deadline.

The travel costs (both in terms of time and money) for getting to events is the big con. Plus, as a freelancer, it's that much harder to get the work when so much is done on the left coast. Even if the Bay Area is an echo chamber, that's where the heart of the action is.

[Kyle Orland]

I'll second Troy on the 3 hour difference thing. My natural cycle makes me more of a night owl usually... sleep in late, stay up late... but if I get up at 9 or 10, it's still early in the west. Bonus! Only problem is that my wife gets home and wants me to spend time with her eventually. BOGUS!

[Matt Swider]

Pros:
* Family is here. Anything West Coast would be far away (I didn't say too far away, though. It could happen with the right situation).
* I have a three-hour head start on most of the game industry in the morning.

Cons:
* It's cold here right now.
* Philly-specific: No pro sports team has won a championship since I was born.
* I get e-mails with "Don't forget to RSVP" for events that aren't exactly down the street.
* Like Kyle said, game demos aren't close and airfare is "unfare" (see what I did there?)
* Being away from people in the know. For example, I've yet to meet some one in my area who knows what Joystiq or Kotaku is. I get, "No, I visit GameStop, or is it GameSpot? You know, the one that isn't a store."

[Kyle Orland]

Funny you say you lack people in the know... when I went to Gamestop to cover the lines for the Wii and PS3, I got a lot of people who knew me by my Joystiq shirt. The hardcore gamers are out there... you just have to find them. I recommend checking out America's Video Game Expo next year. Kind of a bargain basement feel, but very enthusiastic people, and it's in Philly.

You should talk to Chris Grant, too. He's in the Philly area and, as the head of Joystiq, knows what Joystiq is.

[John B]

Thanks to the intertrons, it makes it possible for us to live away from the trendy west coast, but it still cuts down on a few opportunities. On the plus side, I get to live in the mountains, but on the down side (like Matt said), nobody here knows what Joystiq/Kotaku are, so when I tell people I'm a writer, I just leave it at that. I'm sure that cuts down on the random encounters with writers/readers, but all I can do is say "meh" and move on.

The time difference is great, though! But oi vey, airfare... Somebody bring E3 back to Atlanta.

[Gregory Gay]

I really enjoy living where I do. Beautiful area, lots of great hiking and things to see. No multi-hour commutes.

It does suck as far as gaming events, but I can deal with occasional plane travel.

[Yegolev]

I like Atlanta on a personal level. One day I might invade the White Wolf offices, but I try to keep quiet about that until I actually get around to it. Also, this is where my money comes from. Can't work remotely.

[Susan Arendt]

I'm originally from Philly (just moved to Durham in March) and I knew what Joystiq was.

I do like having a jump on things, though I often feel a step behind when things happen after I'm done for the day. I often wake up to find that it's all over but the shouting.

I do very much like that I don't live in the San Fran bubble, though a lot of my friends live there, and only getting to see them at shows is a bit of a drag.

[Joe Blancato]

Yo soy en Durham, too.

Pros:
College town means college chicks and a delightfully liberal atmosphere
The talk is Durham will be the next Austin

Cons:
Weather
Distance to pretty much everything
Things close
The South's delightful liberalism still doesn't hold a candle to the California hippie lobby.

[John Scalzo]

Pros:
* That 3 hour jump in the morning is nice
* Umm...

Cons
* The closest major developer to me is Vicarious Visions, and they're still over 200 miles away
* The "[Check us out at some small con] in [some Californian city]!" emails from companies both big and small

[Leigh Alexander]

I'm in NYC. The biggest pro is, it's New York fucking City. Anyone I know who lives here would rather die than move, and while I sometimes feel like my line of work -- you know, gaming/tech journalism, plus that little itch to maybe get into TV stuff a bit -- might force me West eventually, that "eventually" is always obscured somewhere in the distant future.

Everyone's mentioned the three-hour jump, which I love, too -- oversleep and nobody knows, yay! Another thing that I see as a distinct positive is the business culture over here. New Yorkers are just prompt, man. We get it done. None of this hippy-dippy granola-smoking waffle iron crap they got going on in Cali. But I find that the sorta nuts-and-bolts professional habits that are part of NYC culture are a huge plus for me career-wise.

Cons? NYC is a bit of a lonely city -- the fast-walking crowds shouldering each other aside or trying pointedly not to speak or make eye contact on the subway is an accurate stereotype, and the fact I telecommute and mostly work and socialize with people some 3,000 miles away from me can make me feel very isolated and lonesome sometimes. And, of course, everyone has mentioned the zero-proximity-to-events thing; I tend to go nowhere and see no-one, but as NYC is a biz hub, there are opportunities sometimes. And we do have Nintendo World, and when I went to the Toys R' Us to download a Manaphy (I'm SO cool) the clerk knew who I was.

Another HUGE con -- cost of living is insane. It's only just a touch worse than LA or Seattle, but surely there are some west coast outliers that would be a step up from my ghetto apartment and allow me to actually use some portion of my earnings for things other than desperate survival. What forces me out of NYC at last will probably simply be fatigue at the hand-to-mouth existence. I could have a HOUSE in, say, Portland for the cost of my one-bedroom place. But that's not so much a con of being an East coast game writer as it is of being a New York gal.

Scheduling phone interviews is a bit irritating, because no one else is in my time zone. They tell you they can only do a call at 5:00 PM -- that means you're working until 8, baby. 9 AM is a common interview slot too -- guess it's a late lunch again! Not to mention the myriad of misunderstandings that can occur when you're trying to coordinate coast-to-coast.

I doubt I'd want to move to San Fran though, because then they actually might make me work out of the office, and then I don't have excuses for why I just can't go to all of these Christmas party things I am getting those insistent RSVP reminders for!