World Cyber Games Announces Official 2006 Tournament Rules

International Cyber Marketing, the global of the World Cyber Games announced the official rules and maps for the 2006 tournament, which will be applied in all local preliminaries and national finals in WCG participating countries. Registration for the first round of competition begins this month, with players vying for the opportunity to represent their country at the Grand Final in Monza, Italy from October 18-22.

The rules reflect feedback solicited from gamers around the world as well as related tests and verification by e-Sport professionals, including previous WCG finalists. Official maps for individual games, tournament processes and basic settings were improved so that gamers as well as spectators can enjoy the setting and pace of the WCG tournament.

"The new rules for WCG 2006 are the best standards of e-Sport competitions ever, which is made by worldwide gamers and e-Sport experts," said Hank Jeong, CEO of ICM. "And we will continue to manage WCG to satisfy both participating gamers and spectators."

Changes in Matches
The number of matches along with the length of each match has been reduced in order to provide a more thrilling tournament environment and to invite more competition among the players. In Half Life: Counter-Strike 1.6, teams will still compete in up to 30 rounds, but the team that wins 16 rounds first will win the match. In addition, the match length has been reduced to one minute and forty five seconds from two minutes to provide a more competitive landscape for players and spectators alike. And in Dead or Alive 4, the winner must beat their opponent in five out of nine matches, allowing each competitor even more chances to win.

New Official WCG Maps
The official maps for several WCG titles have changed to reflect gamer feedback. In StarCraft: Brood War, "WCG Estrella" will be removed; since feedback indicated that players felt "Zerg" was comparatively disadvantageous in the map. In its place, a well-recognized map among gamers' communities and the other leagues will be adopted as the new official WCG map. In WarCraft III: Frozen Throne, the "Terenas Stand" map has replaced "Lost Temple." And in Half Life: Counter-Strike 1.6, "De-Nuke" has replaced "De_Cbble." For Warhammer 40,000: Winter Assault, new maps have been added to apply the environment of the expansion pack so that a total of six maps will be used in WCG 2006 tournaments.

More detailed regulations for controversial situations
While every effort is in place to ensure fair play during WCG tournaments, organizers have developed detailed regulations for handling controversial situations should they arise during matches to provide for a fast and fair resolution. When two teams score the same percentage of victories during full league rounds, players shall engage in rematches to sort out winners.

When any disconnection occurs within three minutes from the start of a match, the match will restart in order to minimize intentional disconnections. Previously, the maximum restart time was five minutes.

In StarCraft: Brood War, WarCraft III: Frozen Throne, and Warhammer 40,000: Winter Assault, gamers' will have a wider race selection, as they are now allowed to change their race in each round as well as use random choice.

In FIFA Soccer 2006, extra time shall be played consisting of two periods, the same as in real FIFA, instead of the previous "Silver goal" rule. Pause for the players' exchange and backward pass will be allowed.

Lastly, unnecessary chatting will be banned in all official games and "Hatchery bug" in StarCraft: Brood War will be also prohibited to strengthen penalties for unfair play and ill-mannered attitudes during the matches.