Consumer-electronics giant Sony made a crowd-pleasing announcement at E3 Expo on Monday. The company is bringing its Vita TV to North America and Europe later this year.

Rebranded as the PlayStation TV, the streaming media box will sell for $99 standalone or for a $139 bundle that includes a DualShock 3 controller, an 8GB memory card, an HDMI cable and a digital voucher for the Lego Movie video game.

The memory card that's included in the bundle is a Memory Stick Duo card, not a traditional SD card. The good thing about Memory Stick Duo is that you can install handheld Vita games onto the card and play them on the big screen with PlayStation TV. Not all Vita games will work though.

The PlayStation TV is similar to Amazon's Kindle Fire TV in that they both double as micro-consoles. The two boxes are also priced exactly the same for the box itself. However, the PlayStation TV lacks its rival's voice-control functionality.

Where the two differ dramatically is in the size and quality of their gaming libraries. PlayStation TV doesn't have to rely on Android titles; instead, the box gives gamers the ability to play thousands of classic PSP titles. Additionally, classic PS1, PS2 and PS3 titles can be streamed via PlayStation Now.

PlayStation Now is also coming to the PS3 and PS4 later this year, so you don't need to spend another $100 on an additional device.

PS4 games can also be streamed to any TV in your house that has the PlayStation TV unit hooked up. Sony's handheld PlayStation Vita already has Remote Play capability for PS3/4 games, but small screens don't always provide the best gaming experience.

So what about apps like Hulu Plus and Netflix as well as MLB TV and Crackle? Nothing regarding third-party app support was brought up during the E3 announcement. PS4 has similarly been criticized for its lack of third-party apps, including the yet-to-be-released YouTube app. Is history repeating itself here?

Unsurpisngly, Sony's own video and music streaming services are pre-installed on the PlayStation TV's internal memory.  

Watch the full PlayStation TV announcement below:

Is the PlayStation TV worthy of your hard-earned cash? What features stand out to you? Let us know in the comments section below.