There's a few programs out there that'll allow your current Logitech controller to pretend that it's an Xbox 360 Controller: you might get better responses that way. GFWL titles like SFIV can be a bit finicky sometimes with non-Xbox gamepads.

http://www.fragtheplanet.com/808/em.....60-controller/

I used to require those files in the beginning. But since windows thinks the control pad is actually an xbox controller (really, layout is the same bar the dpad and left joystick), it isn't really neccesary. Maybe I still might need it to play around with the DPad sensitivity though, so it would only register up, down, left and right instead of unintended diagonal presses as well.

If you block out diagonal inputs (which, electrically, are just a combination of any two perpendicular angles rather than a signal in their own right), you won't be able to do quarter-circles. Which means no hadoukens for you, good sir. They're not analogue either (at least, not rotationally), so any issue you have with accidentally hitting diagonals is mechanical, and can't be easily fixed by software.
Sadly in this day and age of the thumbstick being king, people seem to have forgotten how to make a good D-Pad. Shame, really!

I wouldn't know the technical aspects, but when I look at a SNES controller for example, it doesn't seem likely to hit a diagonal jump unintentionally because you shift your thumb's weight too much to the top of the left or right button on the DPad.
But if I understand your explanation properly, you say that the diagonal pressing of the bottom and right arrow isn't a combined press, but rather a "hidden" direction button (8 directions instead of 4), rather than the program thinking "if both down and right are pressed, this will be diagonal"?

... well that sucks. I want to fire fireballs from my hands damnit! Maybe the logitech controller is just too fidgetty then.

Wait for Skullgirls instead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqZdAMV8YXk&list=PL74B40E6FA07E80BE&index=5&feature=plpp_video

I would recommend an Xbox controller for the PC. The only other advice is practice, practice, practice!
Just imagine all the training the characters go through to become so buff. You must do the same with your thumbs!

yeah, don't bu- SHIT I'm too late

In all seriousness, if you've never played Street Fighter IV and you're a fan of (and good at) old fighting games, you're likely to find SF4 to be a serious disappointment. 2008-era newbs love it, but they never knew any better - anyone who was good at a pre-SF4 fighter pretty much hates that game. It's simplistic, defensive, highly execution based and rewards failure.

If you're intent on learning it, though, hit up Shoryuken.com and look at your favorite character's wiki pages and forum threads, and watch youtube match vids. If you need help finding talented people who play your character, let me know who you're using and I can probably recommend some people to watch. Learn some combos, learn plinking and learn all of your character's major option selects (and if necessary, learn the meaning of the gibberish I just typed in your direction).

As for a controller, do not buy an Xbox 360 pad. The directional pad on all models of the 360 controller is incredibly poor; it's squishy, wobbly, has erratic detection and is absolutely terrible at diagonals. You pretty much can't do worse than a 360 d-pad for a fighting game. PDP produces a $20 microswitch-based pad for 360 and PS3 which is quite good, albeit a little strange to learn to use, and either version should work on a Windows PC (although it may take a bit of finagling). Another good option is using a PS2 pad on a converter (my personal preference), however, both are becoming harder to come by. If you're used to gamepads in general, I would recommend following a route along those lines, and not even considering purchasing an arcade stick.

Well like I said, the last fighter I played was Guilty Gear X2, which I only could play on singleplayer anyway. Though on an competitive level, I suppose the best player would be the one who's the fastest at giving his opponent a seizure. I don't really underrstand the "rewards failure" part, though. For a game like Mario Kart I can understand it, where being in the last position gives you the best possible items to fuck over whoever has been in the lead (FUCK YOU BLUE SHELL!).
Actually the last one I played was DBZ Tenkaichi 3, but fuck that. If there's ever been a game where one character could be severely overpowered over another, it's that game. Plus online gameplay is the worst of its kind.

I'll give the site a look, though naturally I shouldn't even expect to be great from the start. :p I understand the combos and executions though, but often the controller would not respond the way I wanted it to.

I've been looking on the PDP site but can't quite find a $20 controller, only within the 40-50 range. Is it that Versus pad (the arcade-looking one, or something else?

SF4 rewards failure by having a bunch of systems that work in favor of the losing player. Every time you take damage, you gain a ton of both types of meter (obviously, this is the only way to gain ultra meter, period), and many characters can use that to land enormous damage off incredibly stupid fucking things. It's accepted and acknowledged that in many matchups, the player at 25% life and full meter is in an advantageous position to the player at 75% life with no meter.

Regarding the pad, go to a local store and look for one off the shelf. I got mine from Gamestop for that price.

Ah, so it IS exactly like Mario Kart. :p

UNLESS you can find the special 360 controller (the one that can adjust the D-pad with a twist), I don't reccomend it.

Actually, what I DO reccomend (especially if you have one) is a PS3 controller. There are some programs online that can let you program a PS3 controller to work on PC... though you have to keep it plugged in (which is no problem, since the PS3 controller uses USB plug-ins).

Simply put, if you're using a controller, it's one of the best built for fighting games.

As for tips on how to improve your fightin' in SF4:AE, I'd say to go into the training and challenge modes to learn how to do basic, special, super and ultra moves as well as combos. Also try playing around with the Focus system - used properly, it can be devestating.

Once you've practiced a bit, move onto Arcade mode... and good luck with Seth - he's cake in the 1st round, but he amps it up in the 2nd and beyond...

Seth is a fucking asshole :( I went into Arcade, after endlessly dealing with that fucker Ken spamming his shoryuken... and then Seth keeps spamming that nasty grab move on me. Twat :(

One of AI Ken's things is that he's very prone to using the Shoryuken... too prone... and that is one of the ways to beat him. Goad him into doing it and retalliate while he's coming down from it (as he's unable to defend). You should not try to fight Ken by jumping in to attack for similar reasons.

Seth... well... Seth is ALWAYS a dick... he's a boss character, after all. Pretty much all bosses have the "button reading" ability turned up to eleven. Seth has a lot of priority and will try to capitalize on moves at the right moment. He's also a twisted amalgamation of all the other characters (IE: That slam is Zangeif's). Simply put, you'll have to try and outpace him. It's not easy, but it is possible.

Also, if you thought Seth was bad... you should have met Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike's boss Gil. That guy was a MASSIVE dick. Not only was he fast and had crazy priority like Seth, but all of his super moves were custom made to piss you off. The first one rained meteors from the sky (which you could block, but chipping was a pain), the second was a full-screen area crush that could pretty much kill you if you didn't block low and in the corner (you'd still take 1/4 of your bar in chip damage). The last super move is probably the biggest dick move Capcom has ever pulled. If he is KOed with his super gauge filled, he'll resurrect himself and push things away from him when he does as he begins refilling his HP bar. If you're fast and jump in deep enough, you can interrupt his health regen to where he only has 1/4 or, he'll refill it fully if you can't stop him. Fortunately, his super bar cannot be used for the rest of that round, but it basicly means that, if he was kicking your ass earlier, he has plenty of time to turn the fight completely around and win... even if he lost. It's a fantasticly dickish delay tactic too, since he'll win if you time out and he has more health than you (which Resurrection gives him up a whole new health bar while you only have one).

And you wanna know what's a REAL bitch? Capcom's not the company you should be worried about for insanely cheap bosses. Ever heard the term "SNK boss" before? The term basicly refers to an absolutely broken final boss that puts you at a complete disadvantage that it's pretty much soul-crushing. This comes from SNK, who make bosses for their games that are so hard, it's insane. Take King of Fighters XIII that just came out (that has not 1, but 2 SNK bosses at the end). Despite fighting 3 on 1 (you being the 3), these bosses can pull of Seth's timing with moves that completely immobilize you just so they can punish you with insane attacks, not to mention super moves that cover the entire screen. The final of these two bosses has a super move that not only hurts you... but it disables all of your special and super moves!

Imagine Seth doing that...

Well, the last SF I played before this one was SF 2 so I never fought anything beyond M. Bison.
I can tell enough about GGX2's I-No though, her boss special abilities involved shooting out a stream of musical notes across one of 3 preset patterns. I think one or two of these were possible to dodge, but if even one of the notes managed to hit you, all the others would immediately home in on you, even the ones that already left the screen. This was easily dodged when it was the squiggly pattern... but if it was the pattern that just shot out everything into a screen-filled cone in front of her, you were fucked :(

In the case of I-no's screen-filling note swarm, didn't you just have to block or get behind her?

I know a bit of the Guilty Gear series... one of my friends is a fighting game guru.

Speaking of, if you like the GG series, you should consider looking into Arc Systemworks' newer fighting game series, Blazblue. The games have a similar feel to GG, but I personally enjoy playing BB more.