I cannot imagine games without the social aspect. Whether it's sharing a local multiplayer experience, or retelling stories of routes taken and decisions made in single player games, if my friends are not also enjoying the game, then it's just less fun to me.
I'm probably out of the norm, but I can sit and watch a friend play a single player game while side seat gaming and get just as much enjoyment as if I had the controller in my hand, so long as it is entertaining to both of us.
I can only hope that more mainstream games catch the idea and create more valuable, local multiplayer content.
Quaseymoto's comments