dear older gamers

[MrPopo]

In terms of Persona 4's story, it's actually fairly straightforward. The story is essentially that someone(s) are putting people into a compromising situation and you need to do two things; rescue the people and find out how they're getting in trouble in the first place. Since it's a JRPG you don't actually have to piece together clues, as the fact finding is forced on the player. Additionally, the game is logically divided into chunks. Every few weeks there is a foggy day, and that signifies when the next person needs to be rescued. In between those times you are free to do whatever you want; explore the dungeon, do a part-time job, or build up your friendships. The game isn't too bad with regards to grinding as long as you don't make a point of running from the encounters and do your fusions intelligently. Usually the stumbling block will be that you don't have the right Persona for the job, but that can be rectified by going into a few fights to gather some new ones with shuffle time and fuse as necessary.

[Flak Beard]

I'll be 30 in October and also have a six month old son. I'm in the same boat, as my game time is pretty much 20 - 30 minutes at the end of the day. I also try to slip in some time on the PSP or GBA during my lunch break if possible.

I will say that Final Fantasy XIII was very accommodating to this schedule for me. It was easy to progress along in the story or take down a mission on Gran Pulse within my gaming time limit. Save points are a plenty in that game.

Even RPGs like Fallout 3 and Oblivion will let you save anywhere, so I would say those are safe bets. You might want to avoid Lost Odyssey or Eternal Sonata in this regard. Fantastic games, but you can find yourself stuck in a dungeon for a while.

As far as non-RPG games… more recently I've been back on the PS2 and enjoying Ape Escape 3 and Ratchet Deadlocked. Both games can be played in short bursts if you want. Although, these might not be as modern of games as you're looking for.

[Lord_Santa]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl

not because it's short, by any means
but because it's a free-roam FPS with realistic bullet-physics, decent A.I. and a nice range of weaponry, roaming a 30km. contained area around the Chernobyl power plant, fighting mutants and opposing factions

you can sit down and play for 3 hours, or 20 minutes
you'll always get something done

[SpaceBooger]

M.A.M.E. and arcade type games. They were created to be played in short bursts.

I will be 35 in Sept and have 2 kids under two, so I understand. I play games that save after every level (i.e. Bionic Commando Rearmed and Super Mario Galaxy) but retro games are the best for saving often.

As for longer RPGs I buy strategy guides that I keep bookmarked to remember whats next, I dont use them as a walkthrough but as a reminder instead. Or, I get the FAQ and erase everything I already did and save the text file so I know what to do next.
These are two really good ways to keep track of games when you know you wont get back to them.

[BlackDS]

Yeah, I hear you, I'm turning 16 this week!
Uhh, why not play more shmups?, the whole genre is defined by its pick-up-and-play nature.

[Weekend_Warrior]

Arcade-style racing games like Burnout and Motorstorm are perfect for short bursts of gaming bliss.

You can pick them up, gets lots of crazy action in for a solid 30-60 minutes, save your game, then come back to it whenever you feel the need for speed again.

[Octopod]

I am 34 and I have 1 kid but I still get plenty of gaming in after my daughter goes to bed sometime between 7 and 8 and my wife is usually still at work. It is hard to play when my daughter is awake because she is only 15 months old and wants to participate in everything I am doing and she likes to grab the controller and pull it out of my hands by the cord. I guess it really depends more on your schedule and the demands or your family more than just getting older.

[Razzmatazz]

This is a great topic. I am 23 and although I don't have kids, I do like seeing mates and going out clubbing more than I did in my teens, and as such I spend more time looking at game reviews and buying games than actually playing them. As well as a monetary thing, I have returned to retro gaming (retro for me is Mega Drive, N64) and so have been playing games like Blast Corps and Sonic, quick games of fun. N64 games in fact are great for saving and playing for short bursts, in particular Super Mario 64.
Most older gamers will have played these kind of games already but for me, it's a chance to revisit games I never managed to complete.

[chupon]

30 years old, and 2 kids under age 3, full time job at about 50hrs/week. My 30th was actually last week. My wife got me my surprise birthday present - Suikoden 2 and even better then that was 5 of my old high school friends from 1000+ miles away in New England flew in for the weekend. It was a crazy weekend of gaming while the wife did her best to handle the kids. First time I've stayed up past 1 am in almost 3 years. First stretch of 5 hour gaming with no breaks in almost 3 years. Finally got to play all the games I've been amassing like Saturn Bomberman, and Pac Man VS.

So back to Nickfil's original question: What modern games have held my attention?

Braid
Super Street Fighter 4
Borderlands
Oblivion
Fallout 3
Portal
Half Life 2

So basically the deal is with the exception of SSF4 you can save anywhere. Accomplish little tasks that still make you feel good. It doesn't bother me that I don't really remember what the hell is happening in Fallout 3 or Oblivion.

But true RPGs I can't play any more. Including P4. There is just way too much dialog and I need to save on the fly often. Some day I'll be able to go back to P4 and be able to appreciate it for what it is. The same goes for Suikoden 2 for now.... just sit on the shelf and look pretty.

[GSZX1337]

Desktop Dungeons.