Apple Inc. (AAPL) Can Beat Sony Corporation (ADR) (SNE), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), and Nintendo Co., Ltd (ADR) (NTDOY)

The iTV will have to do more than that, though anything that finally breaks through in giving consumers piecemeal pricing on the video content that they’re actually watching is applause-worthy. The rub is that Apple is going to have to deal with Sony, Microsoft, and to a lesser extent Nintendo giving die-hard gamers rich gaming experiences when they’re not taking in TV shows or movies.

If Apple wants to own the living room — and as reasonably well as Apple TV has sold, it is not as ubiquitous as the tech giant’s other toys — it’s going to have to woo gamers and be a disruptor.

Microsoft has 46 million Xbox Live subscribers, and the average user is spending 87 hours a month interacting with their TVs. Apple is going to want a piece of that, and it’s going to have to be willing to play games to get there.

Making up for lost time
How does Apple catch up to the three gaming icons? Apple’s army of third-party app developers will help, and the App Store’s level playing field — a true meritocracy — will inspire game makers to raise the stakes on richer gaming environments the moment that Apple makes its possible and financially feasible.

The leading software companies will come — just as they have come to begrudgingly embrace the App Store — the moment that Apple achieves the critical mass of players.

That will be easier than you think. The Wii U still has support even though Nintendo now only plans to sell 4 million systems in its fiscal year that ends next month. Just about anything that Apple will pull out will sell at least millions these days.

No one is going to talk about Apple tomorrow. It will be all about Sony, and how Microsoft will ready a response later this year. However, deep down inside, all three of the struggling console makers have to be worrying about what Apple will have up its sleeve when it finally breaks into the smart television market.

If Apple wants to play, it could be game over for at least one of the three gaming icons. There just isn’t enough room in this niche for more than that.

The article Apple Can Beat Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rick Aristotle Munarriz.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Aristotle Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Nintendo. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Microsoft.

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