I see kotaku have just published a very interesting article about games publishers...
Kotaku: We Need Better Video Game Publishers
There's a hell of a lot in there that I totally agree with and have seen firsthand, but I'd also suggest that a lot of the time these issues stem from the developer's management themselves, who have scant regard to the vast array of issues that will be caused by what they see as a major issue, when in fact, no one else would notice or indeed care...and focus on an area of the game that someone has mentioned in passing is slightly rough (at Alpha or Beta stage) and then focus all their energy on making sure that gets fixed, at a detriment to the rest of the game and its more obvious glaring issues and problems.
http://kotaku.com/we-need-better-video-game-publishers-472880781