A microchip too small to be seen built the engine that became Grand Theft Auto III.
In Space Station Silicon Valley, the player's character — a robot named Evo — loses its body in a crash and survives as a bare microchip, invisible and powerless. The only way to move through the world is to find an animal, defeat it, and enter it. You borrow your power from something else. A sheep that floats when it jumps. A dog with a rocket launcher. A rat that lays mines. You are nothing by yourself. You become what you inhabit. The game was built in 1995–1998 by a small team at DMA Design in Dundee, Scotland. Lead programmer Leslie Benzies and programmer Obbe Vermeij joined DMA in September 1995 — their first week was spent on this project. They built the engine from scratch: long draw distances, inverse kinematics animation for each animal's gait, an ecosystem AI that made different species interact with each other organically. No commercial tools. No reference engine. A small microchip of a team building something that had never existed before. When the game shipped in October 1998, it competed in the same retail window as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Most customers chose Ocarina. Space Station Silicon Valley sold quietly and was largely forgotten. Then Benzies and Vermeij took what they had learned — how to build a living 3D world where trying things leads to unexpected results, how to make a player feel genuinely free inside a simulation — and they applied it to Grand Theft Auto III. The technical ideas, the design philosophy, the belief that the best games reward experimentation: all of it transferred. GTA III became one of the most influential games ever made. The team that made it had practiced here first. Sometimes the important work is the invisible work. The microchip no one notices, doing the processing that makes everything else possible.
About this game
Space Station Silicon Valley is a 1998 Nintendo 64 game in which the player survives as a bare microchip and takes control of robotic animals by entering their bodies — each species with entirely different abilities. Developed by DMA Design (the studio that would become Rockstar North and create Grand Theft Auto III), its lead programmer Leslie Benzies and technical programmer Obbe Vermeij went directly from this game to build GTA III's 3D city engine. The game received near-universal critical acclaim — an IGN Game of the Month and 9.5/10 — but was commercially overshadowed by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time releasing the same season. It contains a famous uncorrectable bug that makes 100% completion impossible without an in-game cheat code.
Key Features
The player controls Evo, a robot whose body is destroyed on crash-landing, surviving as a microchip. To progress, Evo must possess the bodies of robotic animals by entering them after their defeat. Each of the game's many animal species has entirely unique abilities: sheep float when jumping, dogs carry rocket launchers, camels fire cannons from their humps, rats lay mines and use gas attacks, foxes use tail strikes, bears destroy ice blocks. Animals have an ecosystem AI — relationship grids that determine whether each species ignores, follows, attacks, or flees others. The game spans 32 stages across four themed worlds: Euro Eden (European countryside), Arctic Kingdom, Jungle Safari, and Desert Adventure. The visual style — soft, clay-like character models similar to Wallace and Gromit — arose accidentally from the N64's anti-aliasing hardware making models appear soft-focused.
The Story Behind
Space Station Silicon Valley was developed simultaneously with Body Harvest (also DMA Design, also N64, also October 1998) by two separate teams within DMA's Dundee studio. The Space Station Silicon Valley team — led by lead programmer Leslie Benzies and programmer Obbe Vermeij, who both joined DMA in September 1995 — built a bespoke 3D engine from scratch with exceptional draw distances and inverse kinematics animation. After finishing the game, the team began experimenting with a 3D city concept for the Sega Dreamcast, initially styled as a kaiju-themed game. When Take-Two Interactive acquired DMA Design in September 1999, that project was redirected and consolidated with the GTA 2 team to produce Grand Theft Auto III (2001). The Space Station Silicon Valley team's philosophy — building a world where players were encouraged to experiment and discover unexpected interactions — carried directly into GTA III's design DNA. Despite its critical success and technical achievement, the game was commercially overlooked at launch, dwarfed by Ocarina of Time's release in the same retail window.
Tricks & Tales
The game contains a game-breaking bug present in every released copy: the collectible trophy in the level 'Fat Bear Mountain' has its collision hitbox set to size zero, making it physically impossible to pick up. Without 100% trophy collection, players cannot access a secret level or the game's true ending. DMA Design acknowledged the bug and included an in-game cheat code as the official workaround. The N64 version also crashes in certain locations when the Expansion Pak accessory is inserted. A community-created ROM hack on Romhacking.net corrects the hitbox and other bugs. The project originated from a three-game publishing deal with BMG Music (alongside the original Grand Theft Auto and the strategy game Tanktics), signed in September 1995. It initially targeted PC, PlayStation, and Saturn before the team switched to N64 hardware as better suited to the complex 3D animal models. In February 2026, a native PC recompilation built using the N64: Recompiled framework was released on GitHub by developer 'Cellenseres,' supporting high framerates, instant loads, and Steam Deck compatibility.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Released in North America (October 22, 1998) and Europe (November 1998). Never released in Japan — a Japanese prototype ROM was archived at Hidden Palace but never published. The game also received a Game Boy Color port (Europe only, 1999, developed by Tarantula Studios) and a PlayStation port retitled 'Evo's Space Adventures' (Europe only, June 2000, developed by Runecraft, critically panned). On the secondary collector's market, complete-in-box N64 copies command a premium; loose cartridges are generally accessible.
Maintenance Tips
The N64 cartridge connector is the most common failure point — clean the edge contacts with 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab every 6 to 12 months, and avoid blowing into the cartridge slot as moisture accelerates pin corrosion. The original analog stick is made with a plastic-on-plastic gear mechanism that wears into a gritty, loose feel over decades of use; check for smooth snap-back to center before buying, and know that replacement sticks are widely available but none have fully matched the original feel. Store cartridges in a cool, dry place and handle them by the plastic shell, not the gold contacts.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Space Station Silicon Valley copies regularly.
This game was never released in Japan — does that mean I can only buy a North American or European cartridge?
Correct. Space Station Silicon Valley was only released in North America (October 1998) and Europe (November 1998). There is no Japanese N64 release. A Japanese-language prototype ROM exists in gaming archives but was never commercially published. If you are playing on a Japanese N64 console, you will need a cartridge shape adapter and a CIC lockout bypass to run the North American or European cartridge.
I heard the game has a bug that prevents 100% completion — is that true, and does it affect my playthrough?
Yes. Every commercially released copy of the game contains a bug in the level 'Fat Bear Mountain' where a collectible trophy has its collision hitbox set to zero — it cannot be physically picked up. Without 100% completion, you cannot access the secret final level or the true ending. DMA Design included an in-game cheat code as the official workaround: entering it bypasses the trophy requirement and unlocks the content. A fan-created ROM hack on Romhacking.net also fixes the bug if you prefer playing a corrected version.
How should I clean a Nintendo 64 cartridge?
Apply 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol to a cotton swab and wipe the gold-plated edge contacts on the base of the cartridge. The N64 connector slot is deep — a longer swab or folded swab helps reach all contacts. Never blow into the cartridge. N64 cartridges use 3.8mm security game bit screws if the shell needs to be opened. Most N64 boot failures trace to oxidized contacts; cleaning both the cartridge edge and the console slot is usually the complete fix.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Space Station Silicon Valley
A short checklist for buying a used Nintendo 64 cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Make sure it fits your console
This is a Japanese N64 cartridge. The N64 is region-locked by shape and lockout, so a Japanese cart needs a Japanese console or an adapter.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
See what it's selling for on eBay →Unexpected Discoveries
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Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Space Station Silicon Valley sits alongside its kin.
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