Sony’s PlayStation TV is coming to North America this fall

At a press event during the E3 gaming conference on Monday, Sony revealed plans to release the $99 PlayStation TV in the US and Canada this fall, taking aim at set-top streaming devices like the Apple TV. Sony already launched its PS4 go-along in Japan as the “Vita TV” last November, bringing mobile game titles and a limited assortment of streaming movies and music to the big screen. Rebadging the device as PlayStation TV, the company is relying on its gaming chops to expand its footprint in consumers’ living rooms. Unlike the Apple TV, PlayStation TV is heavily focused on gaming and will reportedly support 1,000 titles at launch. The device can handle select PS Vita, PSP and PlayStation One classics, while the upcoming PlayStation Now streaming service— slated to enter open beta on July 31 — is expected to grant access to PlayStation 3 games.

The Sony set-top box that allowed gamers to play PlayStation Vita games on their televisions and launched last year in Japan is heading to North America. That device, formerly known as the PlayStation Vita TV and now known as the PlayStation TV, is headed to the US and Canada later this year, Sony announced at its E3 press conference on Monday. The PlayStation TV, which was announced as the PlayStation Vita TV last September and was available in Japan, will ship later this year for $99. The device allows gamers to connect it to another television in their homes and play PlayStation 4 games on that other television, even though their console is connected to another set. The PlayStation TV is essentially a game-streamer that allows players to be wherever they’d like to play a particular title. According to Sony, the PlayStation TV will also play most PlayStation Vita games, bridging the gap between its portable gaming device and the television. The hardware also works with older games that were previously available on elder PlayStation models. In total, over 1,000 games will be available to play at launch.