That was the original plan. But about two weeks before it went up on the eshop, they canceled everything. Two weeks out from release, you know the game [demo] is finished. So, the demo version of the game, at the very least, had a finished, installable version. And some in the media were able to play them (there are reviews of it). So...it's on a computer somewhere. It was just never released to the public. Who knows how close to finished the game actually was. Could have been not close enough, and rather than charge for a demo for a game that wouldn't come out, they just decided to can the whole thing. Who knows.
I'm hoping Red Ash isn't atrocious.