Lets go back in time to the original Playstation and Final Fantasy VII.

Does Square owe Sony for their success?

Or does Sony owe Square for their success?

My vote? Sony owes Square. Sony was a new upstart. Square had their pick of Nintendo, Sony and Sega (and, to be honest, PC). Square was already a highly respected developer/publisher with established franchises that any console maker would give their right arm for. The Final Fantasy games would've been massive sellers on any system they would've been on, and given that console a massive boost in Japan along with the US.

Much like, say, Microsoft, the Xbox and Tecmo/DOA and Ninja Gaiden, Bioware/KOTOR and Jade Empire, Bungie/Halo (yes, I know MS bought Bungie, but Halo was well under development before they were bought and was going to be a huge hit on the PC and Mac). Upstart console gets a great game from an already respected developer that would've done just as well anywhere else. The growth of that developer is linked to the growth in the market, not because of the console maker was so kind to allow them to make games for it.

Hirai said publishers need a platform to develop for when criticized by Activision. True. But console makers need publishers and developers in order to make their system worth purchasing; doubly so when there's actually good, healthy competition (as opposed to Nintendo's NES monopoly days and they requred every licensed NES game to be an exclusive along with strong-arming retailers).