Lots of good information both linked and given in the posts here, at the end of the day to really start on the road of understanding fighting games at any age you have to do your homework if you do want to up your game some.
Think of the videos, the guides and the individual player advice as basically how it worked for us lot dropping our pennies into the arcade games. It’s just the same knowledge and player interaction evolving with the advent of the internet.
Now i don’t really play any more but will renew my interest when AE 2012 hits, and Skullgirls, SCV as well as SFxT will probably sit in my PS3 some time in the future. I enjoy the genre and thing the majority of the community is one of the best in gaming, actually one of the best “scenes” overall. The willingness to help those willing to help themselves in the fighting game community is encouraging for new players and old ones wanting to see new blood enter the fray.
Fighting games are a different beast, like someone mentioned before, you learn by playing. You also learn good habits by playing and you will learn bad habits that you have to curb but all the guides, videos and information you’ve taken in, well you are going to find out the hard way that while you’re great at “Theory fighter”, it is going to be quite some time before you are actually good at “Practical Fighter (2 electric boogaloo)”.
Fundamentals win games, spacing, basic punishes and a solid ground game, but this isn’t going to click for you right away because at first you’re going to look for the flashy aspects of the game even if you presume you wont. You’ll be more focused on your special moves and looking for big damage chunks than actually controlling the pace of the fight, loads of us did it.
You’ll get outplayed. Outplay yourself, overthink things and lose to utter randomness that has you gritting your teeth; this is why players who are superb at training mode cry about losing to “no skill cheapness” because they are so one-dimensional in their gameplay that they force an opponent to dumb down and use an equally one dimensional counter tactic that nullifies that particular approach.
When you actually do start to get a feel for how the game is played, and when you do actually match up well against other equally capable players who force you into all kinds of mix-ups and mind games…you’ll lose to someone who plays genuinely poorly. This isn’t because you have no future in the land of fighting games and all that practice is for nothing. It’s because you’re used to the flow of a “real” fight and understand the do’s and do nots now, then walk right into several “do nots” in a row because it’s so random to do something so unsafe. You beat these guys with no frills fighting, and essentially punish every inevitable mistake without trying to mix things up. There are no mind-games vs mindless opponents.
You’re as good as your opposition but will have to find that level where you are not overwhelmed at first, where you can actually learn from your losses and see where you are improving. Getting outclassed and used as a training dummy is fine in that it often shows you what can be done in the game, and gives a benchmark to work to each time. At the same time however you do need some breathing room as you learn.
Enjoy and play really! 