OK, I haven't played a Street Fighter game in probably 10-15 years, BUT the other day I went into a Blockbuster which was having a closing sale and most games had been picked over, I was able to get Street Fighter IV on 360 for $10 tho which I did since everyone has been raving about it since it came out.
 
Heres the problem, I'm just not very good at it. got through maybe 3 fighters on medium arcade before getting beat. Then I decided to try the training challenges. I used Ryu and got through the first 2 normal challenges OK. The third however I just can't seem to get...
 
Then, as if I hadn't taken enough punishment yet, my dumb ass decided to try and play a little online... I have yet to win a match making me 0 and 14.
 
So, anything I can do to make this amazing game more fun/ make me better at it? (and if your going to come out with the usual "if you can't play street fighter you must be retarded or just suck at games" bullshit, don't bother as I'm looking for actual help and I can't sit at home and play this game for 8 hours a day.

You know how to get to Carnegie Hall, don'tcha?  Practice.

Try focusing on one character and practice with that one character.  No need to spread your efforts thin trying to master all of them.  From there you can look at strategies and combos for the character you chose. 
  
 

But yeah, it really does come down to practice though.

I still can't figure out how to pull off an Ultra Combo.
 
I try and try but they never happen. Only the Super Combo happens.  
 
I blame the schools.

What console are you playing on?

You get better one match at a time. I mean, we can only help you so much by telling you things like what move is safe or not and avoid stupid noob things all beginners do out of instinct, but ultimately, its you playing the game. Personally I suggest going through the noob phase by just getting your ass handed to you. I'm sure whatever platform you're on there's plenty of Giantbombers that will help you out with that.  Its not without reason though, as I would suggest during this phase you try to recognize when you got baited, what moves beat what, etc.  You could also just read that shit online if you like reading frame data, but my motto is learn by doing.
 
Hopefully after a couple days of that, you'll get the hang enough to recognize when you shouldn't be doing shit and when you see an opening. Once you think you at least can do that, then by all means go to training mode and practice those combos. Jump back in the game after you got some combos down and see if you can put seeing an opening with doing a combo ftw. If you just try to learn combos as your first step, you're gonna get nothing but frustration when you find out the only person dumb enough to fall for them is the training stage opponent since you have no idea how to look for an opening.

thanks everyone so far. BTW I'm playing on 360, which easily has the worst D-pad ever created so I'm learning to get a feel for using the Analog stick in a fighting game. Thinking of going through arcade on the easiest difficulty and working up to the harder ones.

" thanks everyone so far. BTW I'm playing on 360, which easily has the worst D-pad ever created so I'm learning to get a feel for using the Analog stick in a fighting game. Thinking of going through arcade on the easiest difficulty and working up to the harder ones. "

it takes time. I never thought I'd get better at it, till i practiced a lot. i practiced with a friend, too who was really good. I just played through arcade mode a lot on easy difficulties until I learned more. I also played a lot of championship mode online, which i find has the less skilled players based on what you search for.

just keep practicing! I know this isn't much help but it's how i got better

practice, practice,  practice,  practice, and some skill

Add "GB SFIV DIRECT" to your friends list to see if anyone from this forum is online. Most of us have mikes and are willing to give you some pointers. 
 
Also add me, my GT is AniMoney.

Ya lots of practice, it's a big time commitment to make if you want to be decent. I was using a D-pad on my PS3 at first, and even though that one's better than the 360's one, I got a fight stick, its alot better.

Play actual people, do not play arcade mode that doesn't help in the slightest. I'd say 1000 matches and then you'll have a much better feel.

Send me $20 via paypal and I will give ya personal lessons ala Justin Wong. You will be mashing through block strings in no time.

i learnt to play this by getting my ass kicked over and over and over. i dident get my first win till my 93rd match then i lost another 50 before my second. just keep practicing and dont give a shit when you lose.

" Play actual people, do not play arcade mode that doesn't help in the slightest. I'd say 1000 matches and then you'll have a much better feel. "

Get a fightstick ,practice and play online against people alot and you will get better.

" @lordofultima said:

" Play actual people, do not play arcade mode that doesn't help in the slightest. I'd say 1000 matches and then you'll have a much better feel. "

  Wow, I'm clearly never going to be even half-way proficient at this game. I'm pretty sure I've never played 1000 matches of any game. There are way too many games out there that I would have to pass by to sink that much time into this one. But then, I've never been one to get to the end game of an MMO before either. Ah well, so much for that hope. "

" @lordofultima: You get paid to work. If I put in two hours drawing, I get a drawing. If I exercise for an hour, I am healthier and stronger. If I play my violin or my mandolin, that is a skill I can share with my friends and family. If I play Street Fighter for an hour, I might possibly get a little better, and maybe I'd get a few points, but ultimately I would have nothing to show for it. This is doubly true because I don't know people who play the game. You might say, games are not meant to be productive. They're just fun. I agree, but getting my ass handed to me for hours is not my idea of fun. Fun for me is when I can see myself visibly improving, which is really only possible in a game with a ramp or a curve in difficulty. SF has a wall of difficulty. Fun can also be getting access to new content, but the content of SF is pretty much locked down once you've unlocked the characters. Basically I'm looking for new experiences.  I'll certainly play the game some more, every once in a while, but the possibility of getting good at the game in some far off future is not a big enough lure for me to put that much time into the game.  For those of you who are interested in the carrot on that stick, or have been playing fighting games for years, that's awesome. Knock yourselves out. I just don't really get it. "

" @Scrawnto: Not to sound too discouraging, but I have about 7000 matches under my belt, and I still suck ass! Once you get addicted to this stupid game it is hard to quit, no matter your skill level. I will never be a high level player, but I still keep on playing....think I need a shrink. "

I can't for the life of me understand why no fighting games have decent tutorials that teach you the game.  The mechanics make sense to those that play fighters but do they realize those that don't have literally no fucking idea what's going on?  Someone who has never made a fighting game but is just a good game designer needs to get their hands on one of these franchises.

Well you need to learn your special moves, or else you will lose every fight. If you can't do a hadoken or dragon punch at the right times, your just button mashing, your not effective. Of course I am not that good at the game, i'm okay though, I played it since the arcade days, I know what i'm doing.

" @Stang said:

" @Scrawnto: Not to sound too discouraging, but I have about 7000 matches under my belt, and I still suck ass! Once you get addicted to this stupid game it is hard to quit, no matter your skill level. I will never be a high level player, but I still keep on playing....think I need a shrink. "

you sir are a liar!... I on the other hand have 7000 matches under my belt and still suck! "

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud: I hate the whole tutorial arguement SF never had a tutorial on the snes and KIDS figured it out just fine. "

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud: I dunno.. for instance.. nobody ever told me how to use photoshop... but I figured it all out myself. there are plenty of people playing the game that still constantly jump at you and never block... it seems pretty easy to piece it all together... I hadn't played a fighting game for YEARRRRRRRRS before HDREMIX and I had to relearn it all... I just cannot see what was so hard about it. "

I'm kind of in the same seat with this game. I want to play it, but I'm so bad at it and the time it would take to actually be able to win anything online is too damned much.

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud: What elitest attitude are you referring to? None of us had a tutorial, it took us a metric shit ton of hours to get where we are now. Daigo did not have a tutorial coming into SFIV, he was just as good as everybody else when the game was released. He destroys people because he has dedicated  a large portion of his life recently to being the best. Sure, he has played competitively for a while, but there is not a direct correlation between being good at one game and being good at another. I have not played a Street Fighter game besides IV in probably 10 years. I learned from watching countless vids, practicing and most importantly, getting my ass kicked. A "how to effectively use focus" tutorial in game would not have made a difference. "

" I'm kind of in the same seat with this game. I want to play it, but I'm so bad at it and the time it would take to actually be able to win anything online is too damned much. "

Best thing I did while getting better at SFIV was find a friend who was close to me in skill. We played a LOT online and both got much much better at the game the more we played. It was a pretty close balance between us and I never won more than 2/3 of the matches.  
 
That is my best advice to enjoy getting better at the game.

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud: Tutorials do not prepare you to deal with another human being. Sure, you can learn a concept from a tutorial. But in practice, you learn nothing. Street Fighter is an extremely situational game, and only through first hand experience will you learn what is appropriate at any given time. Aside from all the shoto scrubs I run into online, most people have very different play styles, even when using the same character.  I have about 550ish hours of in game time, and I still do not feel extremely comfortable. Are you saying that a better tutorial system would have helped somebody like me who has invested so much time to the game? I say no. The people who excel are the people who spend godly amounts of time with the game. There is no getting around that. "

Ok, a couple points to go over. 
 

• A better and more extensive tutorial WOULD make the game more accessible for new players. I actually agree here, not just some stupid challenges trying to complete combos, since that does nothing. Teach them about different special moves and when to use them, teach them about the lingo and all that stuff -- so that players that are fiending for the information can get all of it in the game. That said, if you are trying to get better at the game you will seek out information, you will find the correct channels.
• If you don't have the man hours to spend playing Street Fighter IV, you may never be very good at the game. You either accept this fact or you dedicate more time to playing SFIV each day.  Unless you have OG powers and are immediately good at fighting games, you will need a ton of practice.
• If you don't have any online/real-life friends to play the game with, you can lurk in one of the many Street Fighter communities (SRK, here, iplaywinner, eventhubs, gootecks) and find some matches of your skill there. It's no different than making friends in elementary school. If you had trouble approaching people then, you might now, but you have to buckle down and make friends. The friends you have are NOT enough if you're trying to get good at SFIV. Most of the people I play SFIV with I didn't know before the game was released.
• The thing about Street Fighter and fighting games in general, is that the competitive and online space is constantly evolving, giving a game essentially endless replay value. Nothing in the actual game changes, but the community discovers new methods of play, new tactics to counter moves, etc. What worked in February might be proven to be a dumb idea in May, but by the time July rolls around people have reverted to using said tactic because it now works again. People joked about how bad wake-up ultra was when the game came out, now it's actually considered a mind game or something. Go figure.

" @marioncobretti said:

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud: I hate the whole tutorial arguement SF never had a tutorial on the snes and KIDS figured it out just fine. "

You're talking to someone who played fighting games back in the day, SF2 and MK2 being my favorites.  It was a new experience then and people were on the same page and it also was much simplier.  If I'm trying to jump into SF IV at this point with no fighting game experience I  A) Have to learn all the SF2 stuff, enough on its own to deal with and B) have to learn everything else that's in the game's now (cancels, counters, ultras, whatever else is in there now).  Add in the fact that I play online against people who already know all that stuff.  I hate this elitist attitude.  YOU'RE THE MAN! Sweet you've played fighting games and you get them but other people haven't and don't get them.  Why not have a tutorial?  It would only improve the understanding of the game and make fighting games more relevant again.  God forbid. "

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud said:

" @marioncobretti said:

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud: I hate the whole tutorial arguement SF never had a tutorial on the snes and KIDS figured it out just fine. "

You're talking to someone who played fighting games back in the day, SF2 and MK2 being my favorites.  It was a new experience then and people were on the same page and it also was much simplier.  If I'm trying to jump into SF IV at this point with no fighting game experience I  A) Have to learn all the SF2 stuff, enough on its own to deal with and B) have to learn everything else that's in the game's now (cancels, counters, ultras, whatever else is in there now).  Add in the fact that I play online against people who already know all that stuff.  I hate this elitist attitude.  YOU'RE THE MAN! Sweet you've played fighting games and you get them but other people haven't and don't get them.  Why not have a tutorial?  It would only improve the understanding of the game and make fighting games more relevant again.  God forbid. "

SF4 was my very first street fighter game and I am at the very lest decent. No need for a tutorial. You learn what to do when by playing not by being spoon  fed "

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud said:

" @marioncobretti said:

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud: I hate the whole tutorial arguement SF never had a tutorial on the snes and KIDS figured it out just fine. "

You're talking to someone who played fighting games back in the day, SF2 and MK2 being my favorites.  It was a new experience then and people were on the same page and it also was much simplier.  If I'm trying to jump into SF IV at this point with no fighting game experience I  A) Have to learn all the SF2 stuff, enough on its own to deal with and B) have to learn everything else that's in the game's now (cancels, counters, ultras, whatever else is in there now).  Add in the fact that I play online against people who already know all that stuff.  I hate this elitist attitude.  YOU'RE THE MAN! Sweet you've played fighting games and you get them but other people haven't and don't get them.  Why not have a tutorial?  It would only improve the understanding of the game and make fighting games more relevant again.  God forbid. "

SF4 was my very first street fighter game and I am at the very lest decent. No need for a tutorial. You learn what to do when by playing not by being spoon  fed "

• A better and more extensive tutorial WOULD make the game more accessible for new players. I actually agree here, not just some stupid challenges trying to complete combos, since that does nothing. Teach them about different special moves and when to use them, teach them about the lingo and all that stuff -- so that players that are fiending for the information can get all of it in the game. That said, if you are trying to get better at the game you will seek out information, you will find the correct channels.

"

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud:  And your bringing the "Im not actually going to apply my self and try to learn the game so it should just tell me how to be amazing" attitude. tbh Im sick of it, at this point if you still think SF4 should have a tutorial almost a year after release you're not trying hard enough/you dont actually care. Do I think that SF4 would benefit from a good tutorial sure. Does it desperatly need it and alienate people with out it hell fucking no. 80% of the people who talk about frame data on this forum never played a SF game serious until this one. Clearly a tutorial is not needed.   But im curious, if you were to make a tutorial for SF4 what would include with it? "

LOCK THIS SHIT!

" LOCK THIS SHIT! "

" You know how to get to Carnegie Hall, don'tcha?  Practice. "

" @Stephen_Von_Cloud:  So you want the game to tell you how to do everything? Tell me then, when a FPS comes out do you need a sniping tutorial that tells you that you need to lead your target? Nope you learn that from experience. What about when your playing COD/BF does it ever tell you good or bad times to sprint? Nope, does it need to? Also no, you learn that from playing. Same thing with fighting games, you have to learn and put 1 thing together with another when something is happening. In SF4 you can program the bot your self, so if you are having troubles with people jumping in on you then you can go into training mode set the dummy to jump in on your and work on it that way.  Seriously no other game does what your asking. Thats why is spoon fed.  Also, this isn't MK or Tekken where you need to see what a 10 hit combo looks like before you can practice it. Its about using 3-6 special moves you are given at the right time, which you need to find out for your self. Challnge mode is there to help you with basic combos but for the most part its there to just help you with the concept on combos in street fighter and "being safe" "