Many gamers don't like that you can't play the new SimCity game offline. 

Instead, you need to a connection to the Internet to play the latest installment.

Maxis General Manager, Lucy Bradshaw offered a lengthy explanation as to why SimCity isn't available offline.

The bottom line: creator Maxis didn't think single player offline fit with the company's vision for the game.

Here's part of what Bradshaw had to say: 

"Always-Connected is a big change from SimCities of the past.  It didn’t come down as an order from corporate and it isn’t a clandestine strategy to control players.  It’s fundamental to the vision we had for this SimCity.  From the ground up, we designed this game with multiplayer in mind – using new technology to realize a vision of players connected in regions to create a SimCity that captured the dynamism of the world we live in; a global, ever-changing, social world." ...

"So, could we have built a subset offline mode?  Yes.  But we rejected that idea because it didn’t fit with our vision.  We did not focus on the “single city in isolation” that we have delivered in past SimCities.  We recognize that there are fans – people who love the original SimCity – who want that.  But we’re also hearing from thousands of people who are playing across regions, trading, communicating and loving the Always-Connected functionality.   The SimCity we delivered captures the magic of its heritage but catches up with ever-improving technology."

Read the entirety on EA's blog here.

UPDATE: Cinemablend has a code you can use to play the game offline. The only downside seems to be that you can't save locally. H/t to Bjorn in the comments.

SEE ALSO: Minnesota Vikings' Chris Kluwe's review of the new SimCity >

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Bruce Dickinson and Robinson's, a U.K. brewer, are preparing to launch an Iron Maiden-themed beer called "Trooper."

The beer's bar tap will feature Eddie the Head, the skull-like monster that adorns all Iron Maiden's records.

"Malt flavours and citric notes from a unique blend of Bobec, Goldings and Cascade hops dominate this deep golden ale with a subtle hint of lemon," the brand promises.

Here's a video of Dickinson explaining why the world needs a metal-themed brew:

Bruce introduces 'Trooper' from Trooper on Vimeo.

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His right-wing critics were probably nodding sagely in approval – but Barack Obama may have reason to feel aggrieved after hit American mini-series The Bible cast an actor with a striking resemblance to the US President in a key role – Satan.

Viewers in the USA were left bemused following the first appearance of actor Mehdi Ouzaani in role of the Devil in the glossy History Channel series, which has become a surprise hit with American audiences, attracting 13.1 million viewers for a recent episode.

Right-wing commentator Glenn Beck was among the first to note the actor’s resemblance to the 44 president of the United States, tweeting that the Devil as portrayed on screen “looks exactly like That Guy”. The TV personality, a vociferous critic of Obama, has vowed not to say the president’s name all year and referring to him as “That Guy” ever since.

The Bible, produced by British-born Mark Burnett, the man behind the American versions of The Voice and Celebrity Apprentice has already been criticised for the dubiously good-looking cast of actors selected to play biblical characters in the series. However, its slick production values and religious theme has won over millions of viewers in the USA.

The series retells bible stories from Genesis through to Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, in a scripted format.

Mr Burnett has told Entertainment Weekly that “the hand of God” was on the series.

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The recent reports about NBC's post-Leno plans were as surprising as they were interesting. As in, they kind of came out of nowhere. So it might make sense to hear that, behind the scenes, Leno has been feuding with one of the top executives at NBC. 

The New York Times' Bill Carter reports Leno and NBC exec Robert Greenblatt recently participated in a "exchange of pointed e-mails," over jokes Leno made about his networks' ratings performance.  Greenblatt is the executive in charge of ratings performance, and, in short, NBC is doing terribly. The always-edgy Leno felt the need to point that out, as late night hosts are wont to do. But on the February 28 episode of The Tonight Show, he went too far. These jokes were what Greenblatt's ire:

For the geographically impaired, Leno called NBC "Cinco de Ratings," joked that The Biggest Loser is now the channel's "new motto," and then he capped it all off with a Manti Te'o joke. 

Yep, those are some really edgy jokes from Mr. Leno. It's the kind of envelope-pushing stuff we've come to expect from him during his never-ending tenure as Tonight Show host. Mr. Greenblatt was unimpressed, though, and he emailed Leno to let his feelings be known. Then, the "pointed exchange" happened. Leno defended his right to make jokes at NBC's expense, citing the long history of late night hosts making fun of their overseers. We're never told how Greenblatt responded. 

The interesting thing about Carter's report is that this was all happening at the same time as reports of NBC's post-Leno plans started to leak. On March 1, the day the alleged email exchange would have likely occurred, The Hollywood Reporter's Kim Masters reported NBC were considering replacing or fast tracking Leno's departure from behind the Tonight Show desk to replace him with Jimmy Fallon. The logic behind the move was that Leno, despite still being the top-rated late night host in all demographics, was ceding some ground in the 18-49 demo to ABC's Jimmy Kimmel. The move to call Fallon up early may make sense from an economic standpoint, but to cite ratings performance seemed silly. Leno was and always has been winning every category.

What we're supposed to gather is that maybe, just maybe, behind the scenes things aren't as rosy as we're led to believe with Leno and NBC right now. His contract doesn't run out until late 2014, but the reported plan to move Fallon to the Tonight Show would have soft-launched next summer. The email exchange, accompanied with the leaked reports of an early ouster, point to a growing displeasure between the network and Leno. If these leaks are coming out, but they can't be sourced to the only parts of a feud between Leno and his overseers we're just learning about? The alternative is that Leno's defenders at NBC weren't pleased with the succession reports and snitched on Greenblatt for what was likely a harmless, maybe even regular, email exchange. Hmm, we're meant to say. Hmm, indeed. 

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author atconnorbsimpson@gmail.com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

SEE ALSO: Matt Lauer may be the next "Jeopardy" host >

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A lot of people, women in Hollywood in particular, were not laughing at Oscar host Seth MacFarlane's song about actress' nude scenes titled "We Saw Your Boobs."

Jamie Lee Curtis wrote a whole blog post about how offended she was by musical number during the Oscar show, a female EVP at Sony told Business Insider she was "shocked that that's what the Academy Awards chose to emphasize."

But three weeks after the 85th annual Academy Awards telecast, show producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan are finally speaking out in defense of Seth MacFarlane and specifically his much-talked about "Boobs" song.

"Everyone who complained missed the joke, it was satire," Meron told The Hollywood Reporter at the GLAAD awards in Manhattan on Saturday.

Zadan added, "It was not about the women that were mentioned, the song was about him being a bad host and him being a juvenile, which was why he was a bad host."

But Zadan and Meron thought MacFarlane was a terrific show host, if not a misunderstood one.

"We were really really proud of Seth MacFarlane, he did an amazing job," Meron told THR. "He did the job that we wanted him to do. Seth is irreverent, he comments on things that happen in our culture, and that's what he did and we thought he did an extraordinary job."

"I spoke to somebody yesterday and they were disappointed that he didn't go further," Zadan added. "So you can't really gauge; somebody thinks it's too much, some people think its just enough... he brought in the youngest demos that the Oscars have ever had."

Meron seconded that point.

"People have complained for years and years that the Oscars were becoming irrelevant. And I think what we did this year is to really make them part of the cultural conversation, and I think that's the important part that people will take away."

Considering this year's Oscar ratings were up 19 percent over last year and watched by 40.3 million people, looks like MacFarlane did something right -- even if it did outraged an entire gender in Hollywood.

SEE ALSO: Jamie Lee Curtis blasts Seth MacFarlane's 'Boobs' song in new blog post >

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Rovio, the company behind the runaway success Angry Birds, has long said it doesn't want to be just a gaming company. It wants to be a media giant just like Disney.

It has started its trek towards Disney-like mega media success by putting cartoons in its app.

BTIGanalyst Richard Greenfield has a video showing how Angry Birds now offers users the option to watch some Angry Birds-based cartoons.

As he points out, Rovio says it has 1.7 billion apps downloaded. This gives it a pretty healthy base to launch a series of cartoons.

We don't know if this will be successful or not, but it's certainly an interesting way to launch a new media company.

Watch the video to see how it works.

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MSNBC's programming became almost entirely full of commentary and opinion in 2012, while "factual reporting" saw almost no airtime, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

The report, which is part of Pew's annual comprehensive State of the News Media, found that opinion and commentary fill 85 percent of the airtime on MSNBC. The network only devotes 15 percent to "factual reporting," according to the Pew study. 

To conduct the study, Pew looked at a half-hour of daytime programming for the first five months of 2012, along with the first five minutes of the "general news-focused programs" in primetime. To ensure that the programming was representative, Pew also studied a full three days of network programming later in 2012.

By comparison, Fox News' programming featured 55 percent commentary and opinion and 45 percent "factual reporting." CNN was the only network to feature more reporting than commentary, by a 54-46 margin.

Pew considered a story was commentary or opinion if 25 percent of the time in that story included opinionated statements.

Here's a breakdown by network:

For MSNBC, a big shift in programming between Pew's 2007 study and its 2012 report came with the increased frequency of edited packages in the network's primetime coverage. These packages are not usually reported content, according to Pew. For example, host Rachel Maddow often leads off her show with a package filled with her opinions on a subject.

Overall, the Pew study found that the three cable networks devoted more airtime to commentary and opinion during daytime hours (63 percent) than straight news reporting (37 percent).

SEE ALSO: Roadmap To The Future

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"The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" was no magical obstacle for "Oz the Great and Powerful."

This was the first time Steve Carell and Jim Carrey teamed up since the immensely successful "Bruce Almighty" a decade earlier. Of course, that was back when Carrey was a big blockbuster draw, and Carell wasn't a ubiquitous household name. 

Unfortunately, the film took in nowhere near as much as the 2003 comedy. Instead, "Wonderstone" is one of the smallest openings ever for both Carell and Carrey in a wide 3,160 theater release. 

Even Halle Berry's thriller "The Call" about a 911 operator coming to the aid of a young woman performed better than the magic show. 

"Oz," meanwhile, is performing well in its second week. Despite nearly a 47 percent dip in theaters from last week, the film is keeping on par with how "Alice in Wonderland" performed in 2010. That film went on to earn $1 billion at theaters worldwide. 

Out of the top ten this week include Colin Farrell's "Dead Man Down" and "The Last Exorcism Part II" after three weeks in theaters. 

Here are this week's winners and losers in Hollywood:

10. Weinstein Company's cartoon "Escape from Planet Earth" earned another $2.3 million in week five. With little competition in the kid category at theaters the film hasn't performed immensely well with $53.5 million worldwide. The film cost an estimated $40 million to produce.

9. Nicholas Sparks' "Safe Haven" drops two spots with $2.5 million. Of Sparks' eight film adaptations, the Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel romance is the third highest grossing to date.

8. "Silver Linings Playbook" still manages to stay at the same pace in theaters earning $2.58 million in week 18. The Oscar-nominated film starring Jennifer Lawrence has now crossed the $200 million mark worldwide.

7. "21 and Over" took in another $2.6 million in its third week. The Relativity comedy has failed to duplicate the immense success of low-budgeted similar film "Project X" from last year. That film earned more than $100 million at theaters. By week three, that movie grossed nearly $50 million domestically. "21 and Over" has earned $21.9 million worldwide.

6. The Rock's "Snitch" drops one more spot this week with $3.5 million. The film, which is estimated to have a $15 million budget, has earned more than $37 million worldwide.

5. After a month and a half, "Identity Thief" continues to sit near the top of the box office earning another $4.5 million. While the majority of the film's earnings have been at home, the comedy has grossed $125.9 million worldwide to date.

4. "Jack the Giant Slayer" falls two spots with new films out this week earning $6.2 million. The nearly $200 million film to produce has earned but $76.5 million worldwide. Currently, its foreign earnings are accounting for less than 30 percent of the film's earnings. 

3. "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" did not have a magical debut. The film's $10.3 million debut is one of the lowest openings for actors Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. When the two last teamed up in 2003 for "Bruce Almighty" the film opened to a huge $68 million. Though analysts didn't see "Wonderstone" earning anywhere near that sum, the comedy was estimated to earn closer to $15 million. 

2. "The Call" featuring Halle Berry managed to rake in $17.1 million opening weekend. The TriStar thriller cost an estimated $13 million to produce and opened in nearly 600 less theaters than "Wonderstone."

1. No surprise here. With little competition, "Oz the Great and Powerful" wins the box office for the second week in a row earning another $42.2 million. The "Wizard of Oz" prequel is doing just as well overseas as it is at home which is good news for Disney. The film has now earned $281.8 million worldwide.

SEE ALSO: Oscar Producers say everyone missed the joke on the 'boobs song' >

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Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid paper, the Sun, has apologized to a politician for accessing information on a mobile phone that had been stolen from her, the BBC reports.

Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh's phone was stolen from her car in October 2010. British police later told her that the Sun had been accessing her text messages from around this date.

In London's High Court today, the Sun, part of Murdoch's News International group of newspapers, apologized for accessing the private information, and agreed to pay McDonagh "very substantial damages".

Exactly who stole the phone has not been revealed, though the Sun has not accepted any responsibility for that crime. There had been earlier reports that the phone was handed in to the paper by "a member of the public."

McDonagh, speaking after the hearing, said, “I'm in public life and I don't have a hang-up about my own privacy, but my family and constituents who had contacted me and given personal views were subjected to people seeing it. That made me feel very uneasy."

This latest news is just the newest development in accusations of phone hacking and other unsavory practices by Murdoch's U.K. journalists. Murdoch's best-selling U.K. newspaper, the News of the World, was shut down after serious accusations about phone hacking came to light in 2011.

While the Sun was largely able to escape accusations about phone hacking, these new allegations could prove difficult for Murdoch's British newspapers to shake. Today a lawyer for phone hacking victims told the High Court that there were potentially "hundreds" of new victims.

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Steve Carell's latest movie, "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," bombed at the box office this weekend. 

With a $10.3 million debut, "Wonderstone" is Carell's lowest wide-release box office debut.

Here are the opening grosses from Carell's last ten films. Cartoons are usually the actor's big draw to theaters.

SEE ALSO: How the rest of the box office fared this weekend >

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Stefan Gordy, who is also known as Redfoo in the group LMFAO, will take a shot at professional tennis as he will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open in both singles and mixed doubles according to an Associated Press report (via NYDailyNews.com).

Gordy, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy's son, does have a background in tennis, having played as a junior. He also currently coaches 17-year-old Ayaka Okuno, who is ranked 29th among juniors by the ITF.

Gordy, 37, will pair with Okuno in the mixed doubles at the sectional qualifying tournament in June.

Gordy is also well-known among tennis fans as a friend of Victoria Azarenka, the third-ranked player in the world. Redfoo is often seen at tournaments as a guest of Azarenka, and even put on quite a show at the recent Australian Open. And at a recent exhibition, Azarenka had Redfoo sub in for her against Serena Williams for a point.

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How both publications handle the news of Tiger Woods and Lindsay Vonn dating.

From Ashley K Mayo:

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Lindsay Lohan's court trial got off to a bumpy start this morning.

First she showed up 48 minutes late to her court appearance and then a bystander in the crowd threw glitter on the actress. 

Lohan's trial covers her June car crash of last year when the star was accused of reckless driving and lying to police.

The 26-year-old is still on probation from a 2011 conviction for stealing a necklace.

If convicted on the latest charges she may be sent to jail.

Watch the video below via TMZ: 

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Comedy website Funny Or Die has made a feature-length parody film on the life of Steve Jobs, reports the New York Times.

The long-awaited Ashton Kutcher biopic has been met with a number of delays, but Funny Or Die's "iSteve" will be released in April.

The movie will clock in at 60 to 75 minutes, a big departure from Funny Or Die's usual video length of a few minutes.

Director Ryan Perez said, "In true Internet fashion, it’s not based on very thorough research — essentially a cursory look at the Steve Jobs Wikipedia page. It’s very silly. But it looks at his whole life."

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Justin Bieber has not been kicked out of top Paris Hotel Le Meurice.

Earlier today, French journalist Jean-Marc Morandini claimed Justin Bieber was ousted from the Hotel Le Meurice due to bad behavior on his blog after noise complaints. 

Since then, a rep for Bieber told Us Magazine the singer left of his own accord after more than 500 fans rushed the luxury hotel. 

"Justin was not kicked out of the hotel," said Bieber's rep. "He decided to transfer to the Mandarin Oriental when there wasn't enough security at the hotel to control the crowds."

A spokesperson for the hotel also said Bieber was not forced to leave.

"Justin Bieber had indeed left the establishment to go elsewhere, but we do not know where," the spokesman said. "But this is a decision made by him or his team. We do not turn people away."

Bieber was since spotted checking into the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.  

He's currently in Paris as part of his Believe world tour.

SEE ALSO: Justin Bieber slammed the media and Lindsay Lohan in an Instagram rant >

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Electronic Arts has announced that CEO John Riccitiello has resigned.

Larry Probst has been appointed as Executive Chairman in his place while the Board searches for a permanent CEO.

Riccitiello first began working for EA in October 1997 and served as both president and COO until 2004. He then returned in 2007 as the company's CEO.

Riccitiello will step down as CEO and member of Board of Directors March 30.

EA announced it expects its revenues will be at the "low end" of the guidance from its January 30 release when fourth quarter results are announced May 7.

The news comes after the launch of the company's latest installment of SimCity. EA today revealed the game sold 1.1 million copies in its first two weeks despite server issues during the game's launch. 

SEE ALSO: Read Riccitiello's farewell letter >

SEE ALSO: Why you'll never be able to play the new SimCity Offline >

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Business Insider is hiring a video producer to shoot and edit videos for the fastest-growing business news site. 

The ideal candidate should have superb post-production video editing skills and know the ins and outs of Final Cut.

This producer should know how to bring in proper graphics and other media, when to make the right transitions, where to adjust audio levels and lighting, etc. 

The candidate should be able to tackle all types of videos produced at Business Insider:

• One-on-one interviews
• Voice-overs
• Fast-moving graphics segments
• Gadget reviews
• How-tos
• Broadcast news-style packages
• Man on the street segments

This produce should have an eye for composition and detail. The ideal candidate is a pro at producing visually compelling content that is perfectly lit and framed.

Bonus points go to someone who is knowledgeable about YouTube and the web video space. Photoshop skills preferred.

If interested, send your resume, cover letter, and samples of your work to Jessica at jliebman@businessinsider.com.

Note: This position requires that you work full time in our Manhattan office.

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"American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest just revealed on Twitter that he's testing Draw Something 2, a sequel to Zynga's mobile hit Draw Something.

Zynga New York general manager Dan Porter confirmed the news in a reply to Seacrest.

There's much at stake for Zynga. Zynga spent a reported $180 million to acquire Draw Something maker OMGPOP, where Porter was CEO, a year ago.

Last fall, Zynga wrote off about half of the purchase price, and in its most recent quarter, CFO Mark Vranesh said that spending by users who pay for extras in the drawing game had dropped.

But since then, Zynga has touted Draw Something's success. And Porter's New York studio is the only one the company is keeping open after a recent round of office closures.

And while FarmVille 2 has been a big success, sequels to Zynga's CityVille and Mafia Wars franchises were duds.

Here are the tweets:

I somehow convinced them to give me #DrawSomething2 first…this may be the best Mariah & Randy have ever looked twitter.com/RyanSeacrest/s…

— Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) March 18, 2013

.@ryanseacrest thanks! So excited to confirm #DrawSomething2 is coming soon w/ new ways to draw & connect. twitter.com/tfadp/status/3…

— Dan Porter (@tfadp) March 18, 2013

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Electronics Arts CEO John Riccitiello announced today that he'll be stepping down from his post. He was at the helm of EA for six years. 

Matthew Lynley and Ian Sherr at The Wall Street Journal dug up the farewell memo Riccitiello sent to his employees. In it, the exec addressed the primary reason he's leaving.

"My decision to leave EA is really all about my accountability for the shortcomings in our financial results this year," wrote Riccitiello. "It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago."

"And for that, I am 100 percent accountable."

He also sent a resignation letter to chairman Larry Probst, who's taking the helm until the board can find a suitable replacement:

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EXCLUSIVE: Joel Silver‘s Silver Pictures has joined forces with Studio Canal to build a new franchise with a retelling of Escape From New York.

The 1981 John Carpenter original starred Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, a tough convict dropped into a futuristic New York that has been turned into a post-apocalyptic maximum security prison.

He’s charged with rescuing the president (Donald Pleasence), who is held hostage by the prison kingpin (Isaac Hayes) after his plane crashes within the city walls. Snake’s offered a pardon if he’s successful, but fitted with a lethal device that will kill him if he tries to run or misses the deadline.

A remake had been attempted not that long ago at New Line with producer Neil Moritz and The Crazieshelmer Breck Eisner, with Gerard Butler, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hardy all mentioned as potentials to play Plissken. That effort ended when New Line let the option lapse almost two years ago.

Studio Canal, which partnered with Silver on the Liam Neeson action films Unknown and Non-Stop and the upcoming Sean Penn-starrer Prone Gunman, has entrusted Silver with the rights. Silver is planning an entirely new take on the material. The goal is to turn it into a trilogy, starting with an origin story in a fashion similar to the way Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes restarted that franchise. Studio Canal will finance development of the project before placing it with a studio. A writer search is underway.

Silver and Silver Production Prexy Andrew Rona will produce. Silver’s EVP Alex Heineman will be executive producer. As for a new Snake, either Butler, Renner, Hardy or Neeson would hit the mark as the one-eyed tough guy.

More From Deadline:

• HBO 'Girls' Down In Season 2 Finale
• James Cameron And Fox Denied Dismissal Of Latest 'Avatar' Lawsuit
• Nick Jonas To Star In 'Careful What You Wish For'

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