Great article - I couldn't agree more. I have fond memories of long nights of beer, bong hits, and Super Mario Kart, NHL 93, Street Fighter II, and Mortal Kombat with my roommate and our mates. Sometimes the loser was appointed joint roller (I've become an expert at rolling cones because of that).
At some point in the evening, between all the smack talk, somebody would inevitably chime in, "Why aren't there any girls here?" None of us really gave a shit - girls were outside the flat; we were in our early twenties and in no hurry to get into anything remotely resembling a serious commitment. Though maybe that's easy for me to say - I've never really had any problems in that area (ok, that sounds arrogant, but it's true).
Anyway, yeah, very well written piece, and very true. All my mp gaming is done with strangers these days. I miss the contact you're talking about. (**EDIT** I just joined a multigaming clan full of great people, so it's made COD4 mp far more enjoyable, but it still isn't the same)
None of my friends ever cried, but man, did we all ever freak out on those SNES and Sega Genesis controllers when things didn't go our way... Good times.