The whole Sony is friendly thing comes from the fact that Nintendo has always been the most restrictive console maker out there. Comparatively, Sony pretty much allows developers to come out with any piece of junk they want and also supposedly has/had much lower licensing fees.
This practice that you mention goes all the way to the original PS. Any and every Saturn port always had to have some kind of Sony-exclusive content. Also in those days they had a very negative attitude toward 2-D games, so those were harder to get approved.
The only truly friendly (i.e. open) platform is the PC. The very definition of consoles is that it's a closed format. Therefore there's going to be restrictions put on third parties.
My Top 5:
Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger
My 2 nex-gen systems: PS3 
and Wii 
Prediction Aug '08: We see the PSP2 released fall '09. Graphically, it's basically the same as the current system. UMD drive ditched and replaced by 4-8gb on board flash memory. Other upgrades: 2nd analog nub, touchscreen, blutooth, motion sensor. Design: Flip-style or slider. Size: Think Iphone. Cost: $199. Will be profitable on day 1.
