i liked the stage picks... I found that overall people who understood levels better than their opponent definitely had an advantage, and that is something I can get behind...
also, if you can't pull off a 360 as if it's natural, gtfo... seriously... I don't play hugo but even I can cancel his jab into the 360... "piano"ing is super easy, and honestly not a big part of high level play, most of the pro's don't do it...
i still haven't played sf4, but given a stick, i can guarantee that I'll be beating you guys after 3-4 matches... the target combo's are pretty easy to do overall, and the focus attack / cancelling is also really easy... overall, I find the game way less technical than SF2, and honestly I never got into SF2TurboHDR because of the rediculous camping//spamming//tech skill required to play at the extremely high level, and I absolutely 100% don't find that SF4 as a whole relies on tech skill over mind-games...
that being said, I still haven't played the game, but i've been in touch with some SRK members fairly regularly now, and it looks like my ken will beast once again... eventually lol... even though ryu is "better" right now, ken ftw
on topic, "PND crew" I challenge you to come out to the next smashfest... I'll give you a bottle of wine if you do? we can booze afterwards? come out or i'll kick you in the junk? lol