Matthew Panzarino @panzer has written a great summary of what to expect from Apple for the new Apple TV, expected to be announced at their September 9th event.

If Apple is able to launch an easy-to-use controller attached to a powerful enough engine to support the burgeoning casual games market, we could see the same kind of absorption that is happening as smartphones eat the portable console gaming market. As the Xbox and PS4 veer sharply into the hardcore gaming market, Nintendo, with its gunshy approach to thinking laterally about its gaming properties and other platforms, is set up to be disintegrated by a new king of ‘good enough’ gaming.

And attached to that is a platform that is ripe for movies, content apps and new classes of home automation and control apps that we haven’t even begun to see yet.

I think gaming is a no-brainer on the next Apple TV. The thought of a whole new range of games designed for large screens but with the affordability and simplicity of mobile games will be attractive to a large number of people. As Panzarino suggests, by building a platform that will (more than likely) attract large numbers of users, the content creators and cable providers will find themselves in a position where they can no longer afford to not be on the platform. This will give Apple the leverage it needs to bring them on board.