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Whenever I mention that I've been playing Rock Band alone in my room I'm met with snickers or an "aww". That's the response I might expect if I'd been drinking alone but is it fair to scorn someone who plays social games solitarily?
Nobody wants to be "that guy" who plays Super Smash Bros. all the time and easily beats their friends when they come over for a party. It's not fun to play a sports or fighting game against a friend if you're an expert and they're just learning the controls. That's not a problem with music games with multiple difficulty levels though.
You need serious skills to play most sports and rhythm-action games at their highest levels — more so than a lot of singleplayer games. Unless you're an animal who hosts a Rock Band party every week, or you live with like-minded friends who can join you frequently, you'll never get the most out of your "party games".
We play skill-intensive platformers like Mega Man on our lonesomes, so why should it be different if the game supports multiplayer?
I enjoy the challenge of drumming on Rock Band, and I want to get better at it. I've gone from barely being able to play a song on medium to drumming at the two highest difficulty levels. I wouldn't have been able to do that if I hadn't practiced.
It's fun without friends too. There's plenty of great songs on Rock Band, and the AI opponent in FIFA is competent and nuanced.
So what I'm asking is: do you play these games on your own? If not, then why not?