The 1.22 series of Second Life viewer release candidates has at last come to an end and has "gone gold" as they say. The 1.22 viewer today replaces the 1.21 viewer as the official Second Life viewer after a series of release candidates stretching back to last November. There are an enormous number of fixes in this viewer release, though there's some known problems with advanced water presets and isolated reports of voice issues on all platforms. There's also a ton of localization work gone into this release, adding Polish, Hungarian and Danish support, and reworking some of the existing translations. Check after the fold for the full release notes.

Play Lord of the Rings Online? Yes? Good. Now, are you running Windows Vista? If you said yes again, then do we have a gadget for you. Galdorad over at the LotRO forums has found a pretty nice gadget for the Vista sidebar that checks in on the status of LotRO servers. He's made a few tweaks to the gadget to add some more functionality, but it's still a handy little gadget that can keep you apprised of the game's state.

Some of us at Massively are quite taken with the art of Guild Wars and it looks like we're not alone in this respect. The ArenaNet artists were recognized at Spectrum last year, an annual showcase of some of the best artwork in fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Carrying on in that tradition, ArenaNet's Art Director Daniel Dociu made this year's Spectrum 16 list for "Mole Tunnels", taking the Gold Award in the Concept Art category. ArenaNet artist Kekai Kotaki took the Silver Award for "Snow Battle". The work of both artists is stunning, and we urge you to check out the images found at Spectrum Fantastic Art to see what we mean. Given that the Guild Wars images seen at Spectrum are concept art, does this give some hints as to what we'll be seeing in Guild Wars 2?

It would appear that Bill Roper has confirmed what many suspected might happen in terms of the release of Champions Online. According to an interview on Eurogamer, Champions Online will release to PC first, with the console release following at some time after initial launch. With other MMOs having the same apparent problems with regard to launching on consoles, it's no real surprise that this has happened with Champions Online. Most of the developers we've spoken to have discussed the difficulty of patching to consoles with the same speed that you can patch PC games; a crucial issue if you intend to allow all platforms the ability to play together.

ZeniMax Media Inc., is currently seeking out MMO development talent for its online game division, GamesIndustry.biz reports. Why is this significant? ZeniMax is the owner of Bethesda Softworks, and thus both Fallout and Elder Scrolls. A Fallout MMO is entirely possible, but the business side of producing this title is somewhat complex. Daedren over at r1ft Gaming dissected the issue as it stood in November:

Single Player

Simply attach this accessory to the bottom of your GameCube, then add a game -- your Game Boy game is now on your TV. No other modifications are required!

Use your GameCube controller or GBA (Game Boy Advance) as your controller

Includes Game Boy Player Startup disc

No extra power supply required

Game Boy Player lets you play more than 1,200 Game Boy, Game Boy Color & Game Boy Advance games on your TV through GameCube. GBP is a 1 inch platform that connects to bottom of GameCube.

Product Dimensions (L x W x H) - 10.75 x 3.5 x 3.3 inches

It is spring of 1942, and the Axis is going strong. Choose your side and lead them to victory

Capture two Axis capitals or Allied nations to ensure victory -- it can be done through more than just military power

Multiple units to use in your pursuit of victory - tanks, infantrymen, heavy bombers and more

Explore technology to improve the war effort -- you can even design jet engines for a new level of air power

Wild multiplayer action through a peer-to-peer connection, a LAN or through E-mail

Three young men open an ancient tomb, and unleash a magical tomb that turns their town into a kingdom of swords & sorcery. They'll have to take up the arts of combat and magic, to fight for the soul of their home!

Battle your way through dozens of turn-based conflicts, using your strategic thinking skills to come out on top

Command your squad of fighters, mages, and monsters and create battle plans that suit their unique abilities

Team up with a friend to battle deadly opponents -- but be careful - if you don't follow the rules of combat, you'll wind up in jail!