My opinion is, that they promised certain features for release, but they then thought 'stuff the customers we'll release the unfinished game early and we'll leave out some features for the moment' because they obviously care more about the money then the customers.
I don’t think your characterization of VSTEP’s attitude as “stuff the customer†is either accurate or fair. Their decision to meet commitments by releasing on schedule despite deficiencies—which they fully intend to correct—was a sensible one.
It is not a choice between customers or money. VSTEP needs both.
However, the fact is that they can always get customers eventually, as the problems are sorted.
But without revenue, they will not be able to produce that “perfect†product to offer customers.
Simply reading the wailing over a necessary delay in completing the patch should give you some idea of the tantrums that would have flooded this forum had VSTEP decided to delay the release of SS ’08 by six months or a year in order to ensure that it was entirely free of problems.
Do you want it right, or do you want it NOW?
I find it humorous that many—for whom English is the native tongue—claim that complex software can and should be delivered error free, yet they are not, themselves, able to produce a short post free of errors of spelling or grammar.