History WebVideo / Thespoonyexperiment

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Yakuza}} Yakuza 4]]''

* ''Yakuza 5''

* ''VideoGame/{{Policenauts}}''

* ''[[VideoGame/Persona4 Persona 4 Golden]]''

** In his review of ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'', he laid out an epic TakeThat against Richard Garriot for making several games in a row where he has no choice but to kill children.

* LikeAGodToMe: Says that [[VideoGame/{{Ultima}} Richard Garriot]] is "a god among nerds".

--->'''Noah:''' Richard Garriot's tabletop ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game must have been just about the most glorious thing in human history. This game takes ''D&D'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Series/DoctorWho'' among many other things, throws them in a blender and hits the puree switch. And ''my god is it beautiful''. This guy is a god of nerds.

*** Later, The Guardian delivers one to Spoony in Part II of the "Ultima IX" review, where he mocks Spoony, or more accurately the Avatar, for his loyalty to the Ultima series, saying Richard Garriot sold his kingdom to [[Creator/ElectronicArts powers for "far darker and more sinister than my own,]]" that his co-workers have abandoned him, and his fans only watch his videos to see him in pain, and that [[Anime/CowboyBebop only he can release Spoony from his cycle of pain.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: In Part 2 of the ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'' review, Spoony briefly stops the review to chew out RichardGarriot for the fact that the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series has several moments where the Avatar, [[InformedAttribute supposedly]] an incredibly honorable and virtuous man, [[ButThouMust is forced to]] [[WouldHurtAChild slaughter children]] [[RailRoading with absolutely no alternative]], saying that it disgusts him personally and there's no reason for it other than needless cruelty.

** Actually discussed in his vlog for ''LetMeIn'' (an adaptation of ''LetTheRightOneIn''), where he notes most people thought the story was an ultimately sweet tale of a boy and his vampire girlfriend, but he instead found it horrifying as he interpreted the vampire girl as a manipulative bastard who only wanted the boy to be her servant and would gladly dispose of him as soon as he was no longer fit for purpose.

** After doing a Black Hole of Board Games review for WWF Wrestlemania, Macho Man Randy Savage comes and gives Spoony a d20 sourcebook for WWE: Know Your Role. All Spoony can do after seeing this is use [[ProWrestling/DanielBryan Daniel Bryan's]] NO, NO, NO!

* FreezeFrameBonus: In his ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' review, after gaining control of two brother minotaurs who fight as a team, if you watch the background you can see that he names them [[TheDudleyBoys Dudleyz]].

* InspiredBy: Creator/Armake21, WebVideo/PlayitBogart, and WizWar100 as said by SpoonyOne in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOp_knB3AKM Bayou Billy Commentary]].

* LethalJokeItem: In his review of ''Highlander: Last of the MacLeods'' for Atari Jaguar CD, he comments that the only weapon that's useful in the game is the rubber chicken since it has the best range of any weapon.

* NostalgiaFilter: Whenever Spoony talks about ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', ''VideoGame/BioShock'', or the upcoming remake of ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'', he clearly prefers the originals. It can quickly go into subjective territory if you're not of the same gaming generation of him, or if you ''are'' and don't have a strongly positive opinion of the originals.

* TakeYourTime: Expresses disbelief at this trope's use in ''VideoGame/TheBureauXComDeclassified'', where one of the ''optional'' missions is to retake a ''nuclear missile bunker'' that has been taken over by aliens and has a missile aimed at Washington DC. As Spoony points out, delaying doing the mission could result in the start of WorldWarThree.

** On his ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' review, he comments on Yuna's ability to [[StandardStatusEffects blind]] people by dancing:

->''"You believed the hype. You paid ten bucks to see a movie or fifty to play that game. Now you want revenge, because therapy is for pussies. Welcome to the experiment, where we cure the sickness with snark.''
->''Let the healing begin."''

'''The Spoony Experiment''' was the home of Creator/NoahAntwiler, self-described "terrifying result of a generation raised on Creator/{{MTV}} and films by Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme and Creator/StevenSeagal at the height of their popularity." He started out with text reviews of movies, which for a while were published as "A Gamer's Rant on the Movies" in ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable''. He was soon inspired by the likes of Creator/{{Armake21}}, WebVideo/PlayItBogart, [=WizWar100=] to make the leap to video reviews about video games, and so created a new identity as The Spoony One, after his QuirkyBard character in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', who he named "Tandem the Spoony", after the line "Spoony Bard" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. He began with ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBayouBilly'', the quintessential NintendoHard title "which probably contributed a great deal to making me the psychological mess I am today," before moving on other titles.

** On the one hand, Spoony[=/=]Noah will give credit where credit is due, as with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''[[note]]Grudgingly admitting to enjoying the battle system, and praising the high quality of both the soundtrack and cutscenes, even going so far as to call the music "heartbreakingly beautiful"[[/note]], ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''[[note]]Praising the sandbox-like, fun-focused gameplay and Yuna's more upbeat and positive attitude, as well as the Thunder Plains concert, aside for some of the clunky lyric translations, for being a beautiful song that Yuna's VA performed well and for having an FMV that managed to get him emotionally invested the Shuyin[=/=]Lenne relationship in just three minutes[[/note]], ''[[Literature/{{Twilight}} Eclipse]]''[[note]]Praising the start of the movie for showing the Cullen family's pasts and motivations, making them interesting characters, as well as the fact that the actors turned in better performances than in the previous two parts[[/note]], and Creator/RebBrown[[note]]Saying that he actually likes Reb as an actor and feels that he could have been one of the big action stars if only he'd gotten better roles[[/note]]. On the other hand, any time he gives something a negative review, some assume he's {{Troll}}ing, as seen when Creator/JossWhedon fans leapt on him for saying he didn't like ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods''.

* His live stream, Live Wire, is [[https://www.youtube.com/user/SpoonyOne here]], on which he sporadically plays games like ''[=SWAT=] 4'', ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'', ''Ultima Underworld'', and others.
* His Twitter, on which he posted updates and [[TheGadfly liked to argue with people or complain]], can be found here [[https://twitter.com/TheSpoonyOne here]].

** In his ''Nightmare'' review (October 2009), Spoony was handed 7 different ''Nightmare'' (or rather ''Atmosfear'') sequels by the Gate-Cleaner. As a punishment he was given one year to review them all. Spoony gave up on this plotline, and [[http://twitter.com/#!/TheSpoonyOne/status/26944580134 Tweeted a confirmation]]. So long Gatecleaner.

-->'''Noah:''' ''At Wrestlemania, [[FullNameUltimatum Hoak Hogan]], you will feel the full force of my'' '''[[{{Portmanteau}} destrucity!]]''' ''And you had better be'' '''[[PerfectlyCromulentWord foked]],''' ''Hoak Hogan, because I am going to'' '''foke myself''' ''this Sunday on exactly one thing, Hoak Hogan: the WWF World Heavyweight Championship! You won't be able to [[Film/TheWizardOfOz click your heels three times]] and escape my [[Film/TheMatrix Matrix]], Hoak Hogan! You have less chance [[ShoutOut than two fighters against a]] [[Franchise/StarWars Star Destroyer!]] The only way to stop the power of the Warrior is [[NukeEm to take off and nuke the site]] [[Film/{{Aliens}} from orbit]], Hoak Hogan!'' '''[[SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud SKRONK!!!]]'''

** He incorporated the "Spooney Hates Everything" meme into the storyline, by having a villain spread it just to mess with him.

* SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay: '''"''[[BerserkButton Orbital wobble?!]]''"'''

** His horror at the passionate kissing and overly romantic dialogue between Luke and Leia in his review of Marvel's
Franchise/StarWars comics, since it was based on an early treatment of the story before their familial relationship was decided

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Insano ending his ''Dungeonmaster'' review shouting "Where's my ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' [[Film/DungeonsAndDragons movie?]]"

* [[SoBadItsGood So Bad It's]] CrazyAwesome: [[invoked]]

'''[[RunningGag Fortune Teller]]:''' [[BlatantLies Your knolage of the land shall be great!]]\\

'''Noah:''' YOU SHOULD ''KNOW THIS'' BECAUSE YOU'VE '''BEEN''' THERE IN '''FOUR ULTIMA GAMES!!'''''\\

** In ''Ultima IX'', after a series of pointless questions from the Avatar, Spoony snaps and gives the Avatar (and the writer) after he asks ''[[WhatAnIdiot what the Candle of Love is]]''.

** The Guardian delivers one to Spoony in Part II of the "Ultima IX" review, where he mocks Spoony, or more accurately the Avatar, for his loyalty to the Ultima series, saying Richard Garriot sold his kingdom to [[Creator/ElectronicArts powers for "far darker and more sinister than my own,]]" that his co-workers have abandoned him, and his fans only watch his videos to see him in pain, and that [[Anime/CowboyBebop only he can release Spoony from his cycle of pain.]]

--->'''Noah:''' But I can't use the mantra until after he tells- ''[game crash]'' motherfucker cocksucking superc*nt son of a FUCK!

* WhatTheHellHero: In Part 2 of the ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'' review, Spoony briefly stops the review to chew out RichardGarriot for the fact that the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series has several moments where the Avatar, [[InformedAttribute supposedly]] an incredibly honorable and virtuous man, [[ButThouMust is forced to]] [[InfantImmortality slaughter children]] [[RailRoading with absolutely no alternative]], saying that it disgusts him personally and there's no reason for it other than needless cruelty.

** "I knew grown men who admitted to openly weeping at [[AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame the bit where Aeris dies in ''FFVII''.]] What a bunch of pussies." * Cut to a FlashBack of him in 1994, shedding ManlyTears over the opera scene in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''*

'''The Spoony Experiment''' is the home of Creator/NoahAntwiler, self-described "terrifying result of a generation raised on Creator/{{MTV}} and films by Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme and Creator/StevenSeagal at the height of their popularity." He started out with text reviews of movies, which for a while were published as "A Gamer's Rant on the Movies" in ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable''. He was soon inspired by the likes of Creator/{{Armake21}}, WebVideo/PlayItBogart, [=WizWar100=] to make the leap to video reviews about video games, and so created a new identity as The Spoony One, after his QuirkyBard character in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', who he named "Tandem the Spoony", after the line "Spoony Bard" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. He began with ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBayouBilly'', the quintessential NintendoHard title "which probably contributed a great deal to making me the psychological mess I am today," before moving on other titles.

He is perhaps most famous for his eviscerating reviews of the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, specifically otherwise-beloved titles such as [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII VIII]] and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX X]]. Other prominent reviews include his {{Lets Play}}s of ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria 2}}: A Puzzle of Flesh'', ''VideoGame/SWAT4'', and ''VideoGame/{{Ripper}}'' (which he slogged through in the dark ages of pre-Website/GameFAQs). He also did an in-depth retrospective of the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' franchise, discussing not only how each game would reshape video game story and gameplay design, but how the games influenced his childhood, culminating in ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'' being, as he describes, "a top contender for the most blundered finale to an epic storyline in the history of fiction."

* In fact the ongoing plot with Sephiroth as the grand villain and his ultimate plans are now effectively dead in the water.

* ActorAllusion: A common gag. For example, when Creator/ChristopherLee appears in a film he will reference his roles as Literature/{{Dracula}} and [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Saruman]], and his ''Film/{{Cage}}'' review has constant references to Creator/LouFerrigno's most famous role as Series/TheIncredibleHulk.

* CowboyCop: Played during during his Let's Play of ''SWAT 4''. Spoony regularly receives penalties for taking suspects down with unauthorized use of deadly force (that is, he shot first without giving them a chance to yield), and often complains about how much following police procedure makes the game difficult.

* {{Adorkable}}:
** The guy gave his dog a Twitter account. Enough said.
** Insano has his moments as well.
--->'''Dr. Insano:''' I am adorable but alone!

* DVDCommentary: Does commentaries for many videos, including for ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}''.

* FollowTheLeader: Subverted in real life. He had intended to start a Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 style show (which explains his blue robot pal Burton) but couldn't get it together with his friends so he started this show with the AV equipment he'd already bought. He does eventually get to live out his original dream with his own Rifftrax offerings.

* HePannedItNowHeSucks: Spoony is [[{{InUniverse}} guilty of doing this]] himself; he yelled at the Podcast/RiffTrax guys over on twitter for doing a Riff of ''Film/{{Highlander}}''. Although it was done jokingly on his part; when he realized that the Rifftrax guys didn't treat it as a pretend feud, but thought he trolled in earnest, he immediately stopped and apologized.

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: [[{{Inuniverse}} Noah takes this position]] with regards to certain long running franchises such as ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''. Whether or not he's right is beyond the scope of this article.

* {{Narm}}: {{Inuniverse}}.

* Overly-LongScream: You try not spending the entire scene doing this after finding yourself in a Spooning with Spoony video with WebVideo/BennettTheSage.

* RealSongThemeTune: "Break Me" by The Irresponsibles.
** On the rare occasions that Dr. Insano does a review by himself, the theme tune changes to "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo.

* RetroactiveRecognition: [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Dr. Phlox]] makes an appearance as a nerd who doesn't own tools nor can he figure out to check all the buttons and knobs on his UsefulNotes/GameBoy before thinking it's broken and coming into complain in the Nintendo Tech Support training video for retailers.
'''Noah:''' EPROM!

* StrangledByTheRedString: {{Inuniverse}}/ During his ''Eclipse'' v-log, he almost seems to be going insane trying to figure out why [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Bella and Edward]] are in love.
-->'''Noah:''' Give me one thing that they...mutually like. Give me one thing they do together. Okay, I'll make it simpler: give me one thing that Bella Swan likes ''at all''.

2013-2015 marked the approximate time that Noah's productivity began to decline as his real-life health problems, both physical and mental, started to take their toll on him, and his already sporadic output became less and less frequent. The "Spoony Experiment" website was effectively abandoned in 2017, then taken down entirely in May 2019.[[https://www.patreon.com/spoonyexperiment Spoony's Patreon]] once promised a full-length movie from Noah if it hit $5,000 a month, but once it did he was taken aback and admitted he didn't think it would happen; the movie never materialized and likely never will, and his pledges no longer reach anywhere near that goal anymore. Noah occasionally streams video games on [[https://www.youtube.com/user/SpoonyOne his YouTube page]] and is very active on his [[https://twitter.com/TheSpoonyOne Twitter account]], but the "Spoony" character is essentially retired.

* A ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' guild, [[http://spoonyexpendables.com/ The Spoony Expendables]].

His brother Miles also reviews movies, under the name Moviemoses. Check out his blog [[http://moviemoses.wordpress.com/ here]].

* VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue
* VideoGame/DarkSouls
* VideoGame/{{Lucius}}
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2
* VideoGame/PleaseDontTouchAnything
* VideoGame/{{PT}}
* VideoGame/HerStory
* VideoGame/LANoire
* VideoGame/{{Outlast}}
* VideoGame/BloodStone
* VideoGame/MortalKombatX
* [[VideoGame/{{Yakuza}} Yakuza 4]]
* VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots
* VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain
* VideoGame/{{Betrayer}}
* VideoGame/HandOfFate
* VideoGame/TheLastDoor
* VideoGame/{{Soma}}
* VideoGame/UntilDawn
* VideoGame/EternalDarkness
* VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac
* VideoGame/{{Dreadout}}
* VideoGame/AliensColonialMarines
* VideoGame/{{Pathologic}}
* VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas
* VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight
* MISSING: An Interactive Thriller
* VideoGame/Fallout4
* VideoGame/Fallout2
* VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition
* VideoGame/TelltalesGameOfThrones
* VideoGame/NeverendingNightmares
* VideoGame/{{Roundabout}}
* VideoGame/PonyIsland
* Yakuza 5
* VideoGame/TheVanishingOfEthanCarter
* VideoGame/{{Policenauts}}
* VideoGame/PapersPlease
* VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition (Played by April)
* VideoGame/{{Contradiction}}
* VideoGame/TheStanleyParable
* VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron
* VideoGame/DawnOfWar
* VideoGame/MetroLastLight
* VideoGame/TheWolfAmongUs (Completed)
* VideoGame/SWAT4
* VideoGame/MafiaII
* ALIVE
* VideoGame/{{Technobabylon}}
* [[VideoGame/Persona4 Persona 4 Golden]]

For a time, Noah was a member of ''Website/ChannelAwesome'', which led to numerous crossovers and collaborations with their personalities, especially [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Lewis "Linkara" Lovhaug]]; Noah's MadScientist character Dr. Insano became a recurring archnemesis of Linkara, and to this day "Dr. Linksano", a version of Dr. Insano from an AlternateUniverse where Linkara became a MadScientist instead of Spoony, is a recurring cast member on ''Atop the 4th Wall''. Spoony left TGWTG in June 2012, the details of which are [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment contentious]] (Noah said in the ''[[http://spoonyexperiment.com/2012/09/15/to-boldly-flee-part-1-spoony-commentary/ To Boldly Flee]]'' commentary that he was already planning to leave as he didn't need the site's promotions and management knew this; however, he also left in the midst of unfortunate Twitter comments made towards [[Creator/AllisonPregler Obscurus Lupa]], causing many to believe this was the reason he left, or at least contributed to the decision). Regardless of why he left, he stayed on good terms with many creators and would continue to appear in some of their videos after his departure.

2013-2015 marked the approximate time that Noah's productivity began to decline as his real-life health problems, both physical and mental, began to take their toll on him, and his already sporadic output began less and less frequent. The "Spoony Experiment" website was effectively abandoned with no updates since 2017 and several broken site elements, and the website was taken down in May of 2019.[[https://www.patreon.com/spoonyexperiment His Patreon]] once promised a full-length movie from Noah if it hit $5,000 a month, but once it did he was taken aback and admited he didn't think it would happen; the movie never materialized and likely never will, and his pledges no longer reach anywhere near that goal anymore. Noah occasionally streams video games on [[https://www.youtube.com/user/SpoonyOne his YouTube page]] and is very active on his [[https://twitter.com/TheSpoonyOne Twitter account]], but the "Spoony" character is essentially retired.

* TooSoon:
** Invoked by Spoony after he refers to a wrestler being choked out as being "''Wrestling/ChrisBenoit''ed".
** Noah felt bad about writing a suicide joke (that was promptly scrapped) after the suicide of one of his fans.
** At [=MAGfest=] 2011, Noah made a joke about Warrior teaching Hogan's son out of drive. The audience gave a collective "ooooooooooo"
** In the ''Film/MazesAndMonsters'' review he jokes that a crazy gamer going to the World Trade Center to jump off is the second worst thing to ever happen to the building. A crowd appears to boo him.