Nope but thanks. I'm really a pretty average guy with my own set of talents. If I were amazing I would have had the 7800 port out by now instead of goofing off with near-meaningless side projects too much. But, I'll take the compliment anyhow and thank you for it. We all like to think our unique talents make us special and amazing... and they do to a degree. We all have our own set to develop... or to not develop.
I'm happy to hear you like the co-op adaption of River Raid, and why. This is precisely why I like co-op games so much... and, indeed, there are not enough of them out there. Although, not all my multiplayer games are co-op... so, apparently, I like competition as well (and why River Raid Squadron has two 2P modes, I suppose: one full co-op; the other less so).
Large/lucrative properties like the ones owned by Activision are rarely abandoned... even when a business goes bust. In that case they are typically sold off or given to various stakeholders. So, yeah, Activision owns the old River Raid source code and the game design itself (which is why I did not include the original gameplay here). Occasionally, companies do release the code and other rights to their old titles--I've seen a few of those--but don't recall who off the top of my head. These are usually the smaller companies trying to generate some buzz... and/or as a favor to the world just before they close their doors. Carol Shaw has mentioned she has a printout of the source code at her house, but it would not be up to her to release it as, technically, she does not own it. Think of games as just like any other widget. The people who paid her to engineer and build it, own it. As to why not release it, you never know when an old property and/or trademark is going to become popular again with some remake or who-knows-what.
