The most fun type of gaming is competive or co-op, but not online.

Nothing beats playing with friend in the same room. And if that makes even Kinect fun, imagine other "better" games!
Single player is fine too. Online for me just for FPSs (with a mouse please) but I think my time for that is over.

A good co-op game can sometimes be better then as a single player game.

Co-op is definitely more fun in mmorpgs then going through the game solo. Same for hack n' slash and twin stick shooters. Journey would not be the same without the online co-op. LBP is tons more fun in local co-op, good for great laughs. It doesn't always work for platformers though. In DKCR you are more often in each others way then helping each other out.

However 99% of the time single player is simply more immersive, whether played alone or taking turns with someone. Good story based games where co-op actually makes sense (instead of the other person tagging along) are hard to find.

Competitive games are at the bottom for me. Local competitive games rarely work since usually it ends up with one person winning all the time and you both get bored. Online you have to deal with waiting for lobbies to fill, annoying people, disconnects, people quitting. And if you're not there on day 1 expect to be on the losing end for a long time.
Still there is some fun to be had. Racing people online is more fun then beating the AI over and over, ie once you get in a good group of people. Winning or losing doesn't really matter, unpredictability on the track and the host thinking up interesting track, car and racing conditions keeps a game like GT5 interesting.
SSX style online competition leaves me cold though, racing a ghost doesn't hold my attention.

I guess online co-op sandbox games are even further at the bottom for me. I never saw the appeal of playing something like Saints row or Just cause online with a total stranger. I guess with friends it is more fun, but being in my 30's with kids, the same as my friends, those kind of online meetings happen maybe once a year now :/

The number of times I play online are pretty slim nowadays. Journey last, Dark souls before that, and GT5 before that. (not counting autolog nonsense) Sly Cooper collection and Jak and Dexter collection is where my interests are at atm.

Overall, I would say that single player is superior, but I do enjoy online gaming as well since I like playing against the best players. The problem with online gaming is that you often get thrown into a game with cheaters or people that intentionally do stupid things. I can handle the people that unintentionally do stupid things and can usually tell the difference, but that's a completely different story.

yeah, starcraft 2 basically has you winning 50/50 no matter what. It doesn't place you with people that are way better than you. There's millions of people that play it so if you are absolutely abysmal and don't learn the mechanics (like any other game). You could probably lose. But even then, starcraft 2 has a meaty single player (though I found it very dissapointing from SC1)

It just places you with people of a similar skill level, and lets you compete in leagues. for the number 1 position :P

If you want to get ubergood, you can. Kind of like if you want ot play a single player game on really hard you can, but you don't have to.

But, I was initially abysmal, and you can just screw around and still have fun. 

I barely touch the online functionality on my Wii and I don't even have a XBL account for my 360.
Online simply isn't much fun to me. It's by and large mindless, messy, and filled with trolls, and makes you wait all the time.

No game should ever prioritize online over offline in my opinion.

Generally I prefer in this order:
Local Multiplayer > Singleplayer > Online Multiplayer
But it depends on the game in the end.

For my taste, I'd say offline gaming is better than online gaming.

I agree 100% online is fun but it shouldn't be the main part of the game that's why i like the infamous and resistance series they both have great stories. Also while im here i think that all games try to make their online COD nowadays and so online doesn't vary anymore it can be really off putting.

By 2000 multiplayer had lost its appeal.

Online gaming is almost non-existent to me lately. The last game I played online was Mass Effect 3 and it was usually hit or miss on the fun factor. I prefer local co-op, local competitive, and single player.