Live · 10/20/2026 20:24
GTA 6: the Miami Vice TV show that shaped Vice City's look
The Michael Mann series Miami Vice is the main inspiration behind Vice City, and GTA 6's pre-order skins nod to it, New Game Plus points out.
Sources new-game-plus.fr
The Michael Mann series Miami Vice is the main inspiration behind Vice City, and GTA 6's pre-order skins nod to it, New Game Plus points out.
Sources new-game-plus.fr
Before Vice City, there was Miami Vice. New Game Plus has a piece on the TV series, the obvious source of Vice City's neon, 1980s mood, and so of GTA 6, which returns to the city on November 19.
According to New Game Plus, the game's "Vice" points to the corruption of its residents. In the show, the word first echoes the Miami Vice Unit, a real squad handling vice crimes: drugs, prostitution, gambling. Vice City is also, the site says, the sixth game of the series to be released, after Grand Theft Auto, GTA London 1969 and 1961, GTA II and GTA III.
Produced by Michael Mann, the show was reportedly pitched to NBC as "MTV cops". Music-video style mattered more than plot, and the two leads, played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, changed outfits several times per episode. New Game Plus recalls that Thomas voices Lance Vance in GTA Vice City, and calls the skins offered as GTA 6 pre-order bonuses a transparent reference to the show.
The show stacked the hits of the day, Duran Duran, the Smiths, Police, Depeche Mode, and its most cult scene runs Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" over a Ferrari drive. Vice City shipped with over a hundred tracks and let you hear "Crockett's Theme", the show's theme. The same idea drives GTA 6's radio, where music is part of the scenery.
Read also GTA 6: Goodyear Blimp account posts "Vice City, Leonida, USA"
Nothing changes in the game's content, but it is a key to reading it: Rockstar's Florida extends an imagery of luxury cars, boats and postcard shots. New Game Plus notes the same look runs through Miami Vice ’85, Joseph Kosinski's film planned for 2028.
Sources new-game-plus.fr
By Chloé · GTAVIFRANCE newsroom
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