It's pretty disheartening to see Electronic Arts crassly monetizing The Sims. It's bad enough that there are so many overpriced expansion packs for The Sims 2, most of them not very good. But just in case you missed to opportunity to pay $40 for a box of Sims stuff, now you can buy it via micropayments from the brand new Sims Store. Because if there's one thing Electronic Arts can't stand, it's leaving money on the table. They hit the jackpot and now they're digging their fingers up the chute where the tokens slid out to make sure they aren't missing anything.

So for a dollar -- just a little dollar! -- you can get a bookshelf, a burka, a TV, workout equipment, a piano, or a bed. Outfits, appliances, windows, and shubbery are a steal at 75 cents. A single column is 75 cents but an arch with two columns is a dollar. There is no underwear for sale at this point.

You apparently get six free items for registering, but I'm not about to jump through the hoops required to find out what they are. Besides, for all its brilliance and charm, The Sims 2 has long been dead to me for how fragmented it is. Have you ever tried to reinstall it, particularly with an odd expansion pack or two? Say you want University and maybe Pets, but you don't have their terrible job expansion or that Abercrombie & Finch or whatever tie-in. It's a mess. A scattered, fragmented, money-slurping mess. It's unbecoming, EA. You're rich now. Have a little dignity. You can afford it.