Money is there in the market and people's pockets. If EA get serious and creates a true Premium unrivaled Sims game, then there are people who will be willing to throw more money at a Premium Sims Game rather than a cheap one where developers have to be restricted by cost.
EA shake up your resources, spend time and allocate a big budget for the next big thing and put a bigger price tag on your product.
I think the least they can do offer 2 sims games, One Premium and another one for casual gamers at a cheap price.
The premium should have a demo too so players can test before buying. I think for a premium quality game $350 -$500 price tag is very suitable. After that there should be no excuses of "cost" "expensive" etc
