So, here’s my story: I’ve been playing fighting games since SF2:CE hit arcades. I’ve played, loved, and obsessively studied every iteration of SF2, and I’ve dabbled a bit in SF3:3S and CvS2, with a bit of Guilty Gear thrown in. I’ve got HSF2 on Xbox/PS2, the XBLA port of SF2:HF, and Mame ROMs of pretty much every fighting game currently playable on an emulator–and I’ve played the hell out of all of the above-mentioned stuff. I follow the tournament scene, I know who all the top players are (I even live right down the street from Sunnyvale Golfland, which is a nice place to check out some good competition… at least it used to be), and I can comprehend and recognize plenty of high-level tactics. I’ve even lurked on these forums for god knows how long–I’m not even sure when the last time I posted was (if ever). In short: I’ve played fighting games for 16 years, and I know the language of the genre pretty well.
The trouble is, in those 16 years, I’ve never been able to properly apply/execute any of this stuff in actual play. No matter how much I practice, or how many people I play against, or how many times I read Sirlin’s “Playing to Win” essays/book, I seem to lack what I can only guess is some sort of fundamental fighter’s instinct. In summary: I completely suck, and I’ve never figured out how to change that.
My main game of choice over the years has been ST, and I’ve always gravitated toward Ryu (ditto with HF… and Ken’s my default guy on 3S), with a bit of Guile here and there. Perhaps my choice of characters just don’t fit my habits; I dunno. I guess that’s why I’m posting this–in the faint hope that someone out there can help me identify whatever is obstructing any and all forward progress.