Alright... Im back!
So there's been some SFIV talk over on the IRC channel. I was over Belmont's place the other weekend and we played some SSFIV Arcade since he picked it up as those copies are going out of print. We then also watched the EVO finals that took place. After coming back to the house I went around looking for a copy. The only one I managed to find was a preowned one that was in good condition. Well I gave it another go and like my previous attempt, I found it difficult and a bit frustrating, there was just something about it that wasn't sinking in. Then I tried slowing myself down and really started to play it more defensively and strategically. I waited for openings and figured out when to use focus attacks and after a couple of rounds, it was working. I was finally understanding how I was so awful. You really really can't just throw yourself at the opponent. The AI will totally put you in your place. I often would go with air attacks a bunch and the AI would see that and would immediately shut you down with anti air hits. Now I don't go air until I see a good reason too.
Now I'm having soo much fun with it and I'm finally able to understand why everyone was so psyched about this. I still had some issues with controls. Obviously those first party dpads aren't ideal and I clearly see why. A lot of my losses are simply due to my inability to perform moves I'm attempting to pull off. At first I was looking into getting a six button faced control pad, but Kman talked me into an arcade stick. I was really reluctant to spend over $100 on an accessory but after a little bit of looking into some sticks on amazon,
this Hori stick is highly recommended and its not too expensive. I just got it yesterday and messed around with it some today. My play has definitely improved but I still need to get used to movement with the stick but the button placement is really nice. So if anyone wants to game sometime, hit me up, I'm on PSN.