I think it's entirely reasonable behavior. It doesn't favor you as much as you might like.
Why should you get to take advantage of their work for free? You don't get to ship other closed-ecosystem software for free, like console games.
I object to it as a user as much as I do as a developer.
Historically, a third-party software ecosystem benefits everyone. Apple is trying to suppress that to the detriment of both their developers and their users, for their own gain.
The comparison with game consoles is ridiculous. I mean, it's accurate, but why would you bring that up? It's not like I approve of how they do it either.
Yes, it is. So what? It's still crappy behavior and I can still complain about it. To paraphrase xkcd, this is almost the ultimate concession, where the best thing you can say about what they're doing is that it's not literally illegal.