I got Street Fighter IV when it first came out and didn't really play it much mostly because I suck so bad at it that  the frustration is just too much to handle.  When tekken 6 came out I got the special edition that  came with the wireless fighting stick, so Ive been using it for awhile with tekken and been enjoying quite a bit.  But after watching the live stream with super street fighter IV I really wanna get into it, but I'm still having a ton of trouble I'm just working on unlocking the characters right now I've unlocked Sakura and  Dan so far.  Now I'm working on beating arcade mode with C Viper, but I am having a ton of issues when I have to fight big guys like Zangief I just get absolutely crushed so if anyone has any tips for absolute street fighter noob I'm all ears. 

Don't play arcade for a start, the AI sucks and fighting it won't help you when it comes to playing real people. If you want to get better jump online and prepare to get your ass kicked again and again

There's a bunch of posts in the SFIV forum that are a good place to start for tips (assuming they're not buried in the back pages)...
 
General tips... lesse... start with the basics like learning how to throw fireballs and such ;P Try out different characters and find which feels right for you then start learning their combos and such. Experience is really the best teacher, though. When fighting characters like Gief, you'll learn that standing next to him is generally not a good idea. Once you're starting to get a feel for how the character(s) you want to main play, start reading up on how to FADC (assuming that's even useful for your character, some characters like Chun Li, don't get a ton of benefits out of FADCing, though it's still useful to know), and there are a ton of "advance technique" videos on youtube you can look up for any character that can give you an idea of fancier combos and such.
 
Overall though, practice, practice, practice. Play different people, learn what to expect and then come up with ways to counter those things. Good luck! And if you have it for the 360, I'd be more than happy to spar with ya -- GT: Lovely Sniper

well you can unlock the characters playing on the easiest difficulty. On that setting the AI is so dumb you can pretty much just sweep them to death. No really a tip to help you get better but you will be able to unlock the characters easier.

If you are just trying to unlock the characters and don't care about achievements, play on Easiest so you can get all the characters and never have to play arcade mode again.

" well you can unlock the characters playing on the easiest difficulty. On that setting the AI is so dumb you can pretty much just sweep them to death. No really a tip to help you get better but you will be able to unlock the characters easier. "

easiest way to beat arcade mode is to put it on easiest and do nothing but jump in with a hard kick to low kick combo again and again... you get a perfect every time... thats what i did just so i could unlock everyone

I must be like the worst player ever I'm still getting destoryed by seth

seth is indeed a massive wanker... but that should work... works for me

Isn't Seth super cheap regardless of difficulty?

" I must be like the worst player ever I'm still getting destoryed by seth "

" @Symphony: Damn I have it on PS3 thanks for the offer though
 
@Gambit said:

" well you can unlock the characters playing on the easiest difficulty. On that setting the AI is so dumb you can pretty much just sweep them to death. No really a tip to help you get better but you will be able to unlock the characters easier. "

I'm doing that right now and I still got my shit kicked by Seth, but not as bad as i did on easy mode i suppose "

" @LackLuster said:

" @Symphony: Damn I have it on PS3 thanks for the offer though
 

@Gambit

said:

" well you can unlock the characters playing on the easiest difficulty. On that setting the AI is so dumb you can pretty much just sweep them to death. No really a tip to help you get better but you will be able to unlock the characters easier. "

I'm doing that right now and I still got my shit kicked by Seth, but not as bad as i did on easy mode i suppose "

I think they mentioned on the Bombcast that there was some sort of bug in the "easiest" mode. I also kept getting my ass beat in that mode, especially against Zangeif.  Getting humiliated off and online eventually just made me quit, not helping that the character I'd settled on, Vega, had a frikkin impossible ultra to pull of consistently.  Will still probably pick up SSF4, and hate it. "

" seth is indeed a massive wanker... but that should work... works for me "

Set it to one round, easiest, pick zangief & spam lariat. 

" @LackLuster said:

" I must be like the worst player ever I'm still getting destoryed by seth "

Add Pessh. He shall teach. "

Becoming good at Street Fighter IV requires a bit of research (as well as of course practice). You'll want to move away from Arcade mode once you unlock the characters. Try all the characters casually and pick ONE to focus one (at first at least). Not necessarily a high ranked character. Pick one you enjoy playing. If you want to compete online, you'll have to know your character inside and out. Read the forum http://shoryuken.com/ to pick up strategies and tips. Practice combos. But, at the same time, it's not all about combos. Knowing other characters and how to respond to them with your character is crucial. Reading the play. In higher-level matches, I find that losing even a bit of focus can turn the entire match in the opponent's favour. You want to know your character so well that your eyes are always focused on the opponent, anticipating and reading. Learn how to use openings to unleash combos. Punish.

And CROUCHJAB! 
 
edit: I have a good amount of experience with Blanka and Bison, so if you pick either of them, I can help you out if you want. Xbox gamertag is Sofa Cylon.

" And CROUCHJAB!   edit: I have a good amount of experience with Blanka and Bison, so if you pick either of them, I can help you out if you want. Xbox gamertag is Sofa Cylon. "

" I must be like the worst player ever I'm still getting destoryed by seth "

" @LackLuster said:

" I must be like the worst player ever I'm still getting destoryed by seth "

the easiest way to beat seth is to do a fierce hurricane kick like move.  it hits him every time. any kind of attack that keeps you moving is what you want  random ultras work too, especially when he teleports all over the place "

Check out this guide:
  http://www.giantbomb.com/guides/beginners-guide-to-moves-combos-and-fighting-strategies/902/

Okay well Ive been using Fei Long since I unlocked him and I think I will use him as my main fighter.
 
@GetEveryone:
  Can try some pointers if you think it will help, but I'm already improving.  I think your right I just need to start researching and playing a lot of online matches which is what I am doing.  I must say though this game has  a much steeper learning curve than most other fighters I managed to get pretty good at tekken without putting half as much work as I'm planning on putting into this, but I am enjoying the idea of how much depth there is which is the main appeal of fighting games for me.   

I know I said don't necessarily pick a high-ranked fighter, but you should know that Fei Long continually ranks bottom tier. You just don't see a lot of good Fei Longs out there. I love playing as him in casual matches but I find he's a tough character to master. All the power to you if you want to focus on him though. You can check out the most recent rankings here.  
 
 http://www.eventhubs.com/guides/2008/oct/17/street-fighter-4-tiers-character-rankings/