Personally, I think the big appeal of trivia nights is very much the same reason for the resurgence of board games, it's an in person social thing to do. I can go out with some friends, have fun, and I have met some other people and made new friends that way too.

I have tried to do a lot of the online video games (even with friends), but to me, it doesn't have nearly the appeal of having friends over and we all play a game together For me, the Nintendo 64 was one of the best consoles to do this.