Rock, Paper, Shotgun has posted a two part interview with EA's Rod Humble on The Sims, among other things — the first half of the interview covers a lot of (non-Sims related) gaming territory, while the second focuses on the Sims. On designing the death bits:

We have a lot of fun with it, so every expansion pack we come to the point where we're adding in some new death states. I remember in Seasons they were putting in the death state of being snowed to death. The person is in a snowstorm, and you see them trying to fight it and fight it, until the fighting slows down [laughs] and he just rolls over and gives up. It shouldn't be funny. But oh my goodness, it is. It's always about mean things happening in an amusing way. There's also a lot of potty humour in it, and we fully embrace that. I think that's a wonderful traditional mode of humour, and I still find it funny watching Sims pee themselves. I make no apologies for it. I think that's a classic genre and endlessly entertaining. [laughs] It makes chuckle just thinking about it!

It's a fun little two part interview, even if you're not a big Sims fan.

Dinner With Rod Humble: Sims Style Stuff [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]