Here's a message from the author claiming that Open64 is dead, that it's not dead, and that you should read a page about another completely unrelated topic.
http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=39839
So I think it's safe to say that they were well intentioned, but don't know the difference between a finished product and vaporware. It seems that they don't know that they set themselves up to fail with a project that was 1000 times more complex than they realized (reinventing the wheel, and doing it better than some of the most talented hackers who've already worked for years). I don't mean any offense, and I hope that this helps someone.
That seems to be a plague in the emulation community above the 16-bit level. They preannounce enormously complex projects which are to be made by volunteers, they generate endless hype, they browbeat everyone that they get excited, they pretend to cope with the mounting self-made stress by continually citing difficulties and excuses and sometimes (not in this case) alternately claiming that the whole thing was never intended to be finished and was just a personal toy or that it's impossible altogether, while at the same time stringing people along that it'll get done.
In reality, there was no need to fabricate a sinister cycle; they just overestimated their motivation, the scope of the project, and their obsessively perfectionistic (all-or-nothing) tendencies.
Why create and perpetuate this cycle?
*All* they needed to do, the whole time, was simply release their work in whatever state it was in (make a project on sf.net), ignore any naysayers, get some basic project management skills, and be honest with themselves. Possibly even just collaborate with someone else like Mupen64, rather than reinventing the wheel. Anything else is just abusive to everyone, especially themselves. You're setting yourselves up to fail. Sometimes (not in this case) it's abusive to the community that supported and motivated them the whole time.
I love you guys for trying and good luck in the future!