Sony has been forced to backtrack just days after stating that PlayStation 3 devices sold in Europe and Australia would lack a hardware component making them fully compatible with PS2 games.

The electronics giant said last week that it had removed the Emotion Engine from the European and Australasian machines in a move to cut costs.

Sony now plans to provide emulation software for limited backwards compatibility with PS2 games.

It was Sony's use of the word "limited" that caused a furore in the market but, in a bid to calm the critics, Sony has now said that over 1,000 PS2 games will be compatible with the PS3 when it launches.

However, now that some users are satisfied that they will still be able to play their existing games on the new machine, a new concern has emerged.

Consumers are questioning why the European model, which has now lost the Emotion Engine to cut costs, can still be more expensive than those already sold in Japan and North America.