I hate when real life gets in the way of my gaming.

Yes, I'm happy to have work and other hobbies and interests. Keeping busy makes the times I get to spend in my virtual worlds all the more fun. But when I miss another Bitmob Game Night due to a late shift at the office, or when I can't play Final Fantasy 13 with the sound up because I don’t want to wake my roommates up at 3 a.m., or I have to suffer the smack talk of my friends because I don't have time for another Madden rematch...that's less than ideal.

It seems that life will keep getting in the way of gaming as I get older. And I don't even have a spouse or kids yet. (I don't know how you guys do it, you married-with-children gamers. You're my heroes.) I guess that's part of growing up.

All these factors have taken a toll, but it hasn't always been for the worse. So I may have to take on the computer instead of a friend in NBA 2K11, or I may hold off on finishing Final Fantasy 13 until the daylight hours.

My busy life, however, has created one unexpected side benefit: It’s opened up a whole different world of gaming to me. I’m experiencing old games in strange new ways, and I’m even trying out alternative titles I never would’ve touched before.

Just after 1 a.m. the other night, I fired up Fat Princess on PSN to show a friend who had never seen it before. I know it's a bit old, and we've all seen how online communities can die off quickly. But I had hoped to show her how fun teaming up for a princess grab could be, especially against competent opponents.

I think we found a grand total of four people playing at that hour. Four. In the whole world.

So instead, I watched my friend play through the first three levels of Flower. As she soared through the game's surrealistic landscapes, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed just watching the scenery and listening to the music -- a uniquely different experience from when I had played it through myself.

As I've written about before, my schedule is one of the biggest reasons I don't play MMOs. When you're only logging on at 3am, or in the middle of the day when friends are at work, you kind of miss out on that middle M. I've been a member of a couple different guilds, and even that didn't really help. And I'm just not the kind of person who enjoys the World of Warcraft grind solo.

So to get my farming and resource-gathering fix, I've turned to Minecraft. I'm sure you've read a ton about the game already, including great articles on this very site. In my limited experience with the mega-popular sandbox/dungeon crawler, it's been perfect for late-night solo sessions -- the sense of isolation and exploration really appeals to me. And I don't have to feel bad about how far behind my guildmates I'm falling.

Penny Arcade noted recently that getting older and working full-time make it difficult to find other gamers at your speed and skill level. With my limited time and experience, I can't set foot in a Modern Warfare 2 game without getting obliterated. But I can take my time running back through the campaign, enjoying the design at a more leisurely pace instead of sprinting through every level as fast as possible. I've noticed a lot more subtleties in enemy behavior and objective location this way.

When I was younger, I remember that game length was a huge bullet point on the back of the box. "OVER 70 HOURS OF ROLE-PLAYING ACTION!!!" was a surefire way to get my attention. Now it just makes me groan in despair, knowing I'll probably never finish it.

Instead, what I've been playing most lately is the iDevice port of Final Fantasy 1, due to its convenient save-anywhere feature. True, it makes the game an absolute cakewalk, but it also means I've logged 15 hours on something I would never have had the time to play otherwise. Besides, it finally gave me an excuse to try out the "8-Bit Theater" party of a Fighter, Thief, Red Mage, and Black Mage (verdict: It's solid).

Focusing on shorter, more compact gaming experiences has also led me to gems like Portal, Braid, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and casual games like Angry Birds. I've rediscovered my love for Bejeweled 2. I've dusted off my Wii for quick Super Mario Kart races and a replay of Actraiser (finished in one sitting). All experiences I might not have had if not for my busy life.

So I'm a little behind on some of the latest and greatest. That's OK. It doesn't make me -- or you -- any less of a gamer. In fact, it might make us better ones.