I don't think that's true. Shipping is really hard - basically the end result of execution. A perfectly run project can still suck to work on at the end. The problem is that for most people the fun part of working on a project is the discovery phase when you're building something new. The last 20% of squashing bugs and going from "the code is working" to the "code is shippable" is generally not a good time.
I speak from a point of ignorance, I've never worked in the field. That said, if a project requires months of unplanned crunch time, it wasn't perfectly run. And I don't think anyone would say that crunch isn't commonplace.
(At least, I think patio11 is referring to the culture of crunch time. Correct me if I'm wrong!) You probably know that, but, if not, (or for those who don't) here's some reading:
I've read those articles when they were written, and have even read the book Death March. Those situation are obviously not how things should be.
Patio11 responded to Abrash saying near the end of the project there were rough patches and that eventually they all were tired of working on it. No matter how well run a project might be there will always be rough patches and you'll likely be sick of working on it at the end. Quake is a great game, but imagine running the same level or even worse, same portion of a level all day long looking for obscure bugs. Even if you planned for this time, doing this for weeks is going to suck at some point. It's just the nature of working on a long term project and taking it from working to shippable.
