Xi3 Corporation has announced that its Piston gaming console will launch on 29 November - a date also known as Black Friday in the US.

Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving Day in the US, marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, as most major retailers open early and offer enticing promotional sales. However, despite designating Black Friday as its launch day, Xi3 hasn't revealed any discounts or deals for its pricey Piston console.

Xi3 originally announced earlier this year that the Piston would be available around Christmas for $1,000 (£668). The console is currently available for pre-order on Xi3's website at the $999 price point, and Engadget said you'll get one two weeks earlier if you decide to pre-order.

Read: Valve parts ways with unofficial Xi3 Piston 'Steam Box', after providing early backing

The Piston comes with a quad-core x86-based 64-bit processor, support for up to 4K resolution and 1TB of SSD storage, and the ability to load a second operating system onto the machines, including the newly announced SteamOS. That last bit is interesting, especially since Valve initially backed Xi3 before the two parted ways in March.

The Piston, which has a grapefruit-sized matte black aluminum chassis with chrome trim, will also ship with pre-loaded pack-in titles, though more details on those games won't be available for a few more weeks.