Across the global gaming industry, a quiet but consequential shift is underway: the insatiable appetite of AI datacenters for memory chips has left gamers paying more for hardware while receiving less in return. Memory manufacturers, bound by early commitments to AI companies, have redirected production capacity away from consumer electronics, sending prices for graphics cards, consoles, and phones climbing in unison. The promises made at the dawn of AI-enhanced gaming — living worlds, intelligent companions, seamless experiences — have largely dissolved into generative filler and divisive fra