I'm just an old n00b really. SF2 was the bomb when I was in primary school and I used to sneak off to the arcade after school and spend all of my measly allowance on SF2, samurai shodown and world heroes 2. Oooh my parents would have killed me if they'd known..!
Anyway by the time the alpha series came out my local arcade had shut down and been replaced with a hairdresser (a f***ing hairdresser!?!) and I was more interested in whatever it is that teenage boys are interested in (ahem) so I kinda forgot all about it.
Later on of course I discovered emulators, but if there's one thing that can suck all the joy out of street fighter it's playing it on a keyboard (leave that for Sango Fighter).
Fast forward many a year and now I'm a software engineer, with a steady income and a PS3, and since I spend the majority of my nerdy life browsing gaming blogs I hear there is a rumour that SF2THDR is going to be released. So I did a bit of scouting around and found out that not only can you get arcade sticks, but there's this whole SF community of like-minded geeks who are really into street fighter! So I got myself a HRAP3 and MAME and started lurking silently in the background of the SRK SF2:ST forum while hardcore players discussed standing cross-up glitches etc... My eyes were opened.
I didn't think there would be anything that would be able to tear me away from super turbo or HD remix since SF3 was so alien to me. It has unfamiliar mechanics and half of the cast are hideous (my opinion - don't hate me), but then SF4 came along. I was always going to give it a go because it's street fighter - but it really has stolen the number 1 spot for me. They really have managed to capture the essence of the classic that I love whilst at the same time bringing it into the current gen with some awesome enhancements.
I can't wait to see what's coming for the series in the future. They have so much great material to pick and choose from (Ibuki FTW) and they're off to such a great start that at this stage I'd say they can't go wrong!