Multi player growth

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a newbie when it comes to games. Apart from a casual foray into 'The Sims' when I was an early teen, my experience has generally been watching my brothers sit and play for hours on their PS2 and XBox 360 and has left me wondering what they could be doing on there.
Recently I've realised that the yells and comments I hear them making are not only directed at each other, but at other people through their microphones. I find it interesting that videogames seem to be working away from a single player mode of playing as they become increasingly focused on a multiplayer mode. A lot of the time videogaming seems to be referred to by non video gamers as something potentially anti social, but this growth of multi player games and consoles could potentially be seen as a way to counter act that. Is it a new way for videogames to be seen? As a way of coming together with friends? Will it give the term 'gamer' a more positive connotation? These questions are definitely interesting to consider when it comes to attitudes towards videogames and gamers and whether the way people play games is changing.