If you delayed the game for a character you had a general idea for, the game wouldn’t have come until for ages. You can always so ‘oh, they could’ve delayed it a bit more’ but then the game comes out with Skarlet, but there’s a bit of Kenshi on the disc. Delay it for him, there’s a bit of Rain. Delay it for him, there’s a bit of Freddy. Delay it for him, maybe they considered some other character at this point. You can’t just keep delaying it, and you have to draw a line somewhere. They drew it at Skarlet. Netherrealm were basically on their last legs: if MK9 wasn’t a success, they would’ve keeled over and died after the financial failure of their last few games. This was the same scenario as SNK, if KoF13 failed, they were doomed, especially with KoF12 doing as horrifically as it did. In these cases, I think that, even if DLC was on the disc (as with Mr Karate and EX pals), you have to except it, as the company really does need all the money it can get if you want to see the next game. They weren’t a Capcom ‘try and squeeze every penny with gems’, they were a ‘if we don’t squeeze every penny, we’re going to go broke’. With Injustice, there’s no way in hell you could possibly make every DC character that the fans want. People will inevitably bitch and moan that x isn’t in the game, so its not too big of a deal that they’re announcing DLC for that. If they did try and make every big request, the game would never come out, so I feel DLC is a better option than DNF.
I also feel you’re being a bit unfair on games with that last line. I haven’t enjoyed any games as much as I did the original Deus Ex (though DXHR came close), but I feel that Deus Ex is, without contention, the best game ever made. It wouldn’t be the best game ever made if I could enjoy other games as much as it. 