I hate it when somebody goes AWOL on a project in such a stupid way that they don't even post the results as far as they got. That's just stupid. It's like, worse than not working on it at all.
Actually, it's his work, and completely up to him if he wants to release it or not. Whether you find it "stupid" or not is your problem. If he has no urge to finish it due to the limitations of the NES (which is likely the case), then why release a partial patch?
Maybe he's AGAINST someone 'finishing' the upgrade using his work as a base, which could be why he hasn't released a partial patch?
Maybe he just doesn't want an unfinished project?
All in all, it's his work, his effort, his patch, and his decision. It's not really fair to pester him and try to "convince" him to release just because you want someone else to finish his work. There are more than enough tools and documents on this site for to start an upgrade patch of your own.