Apple plans low-key E3 presence, but they’ll be there

E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, happens next week at the L.A. Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. It’s quite an event for enthusiasts of video games, computer games, and just about anything else related to having fun with computers and consoles. ( We’ll be there, by the way.) Those who are savvy to the event have been asking about Apple’s presence — it appears we finally have an answer.

Apple spokesperson Jerry Hsu says that Apple plans to be there, although the company is going to maintain a low profile. “Apple has reserved a room for meetings with game publishers only,” said Hsu.

Two years ago, Apple had quite a presence at E3, taking up virtually the entire Petree Hall portion of the Los Angeles Convention Center. The company showed iMacs, PowerBooks and Power Mac G3s in full splendor, playing games and doing all the things Macs do well. Since then, though, Apple has had a much more modest presence — last year the company had a second-floor meeting room that, like this year, has been reserved for private meetings only.

Although some game enthusiasts might argue that Apple should have a more prominent presence at this event, there are a number of arguments to the contrary, as well.

WWDC happens the following week, for example. Having two major presences would spread Apple’s trade show marketing resources pretty thin for the weeks leading up to the show.

And, the other thing to remember is that most mainstream computer makers — and we can argue until we’re blue in the face about what “mainstream” means — don’t participate in E3. It’s an event specifically focused on gaming, and the stars of the show are unquestionably the major console makers — Xbox will be huge this year, as will Nintendo’s Gamecube and Game Boy Advance, as well as Sony’s PlayStation 2. The big software conglomerations are the other key attraction — they’re the movers and shakers in the game industry who decide what market trends happen.

Regardless of your personal opinion on the size of Apple’s presence at E3, the important thing to take away is that Apple will be there, meeting with companies that influence the trends we see in the computer game industry — the publishers.