“Miami has always been larger than life. The nightlife, the cars, the heat, the characters. Everything’s louder, faster and a little unhinged. Half the time it already feels like you’re living inside GTA. GTA VI just gave you the controller.”
“I think it’s a real Florida, or South Florida, story. In the trailers, you see a lot of places that are clearly not Miami. There are those outskirts, there’s the boonies, the Everglades – which are totally different cultures…. But I think it captures the subcultures really well. There’s this scene in the new trailer, [where] there’s this fast-talking guy that gets off a private jet, making deals, bossing people around – these are characters I’ve met in real life. Ultimately, GTA is one of the greatest pieces of cultural commentary and satire that exists. So it’s all exaggerated and a bit bombastic, but ultimately, it really captures the various subcultures of Miami… I’ve seen more car and boat chases in Miami than every other place I’ve been in my life combined. It’s the perfect place for a Grand Theft Auto game. That stuff happens.”
Usama, student
“Being someone that went to UMiami, you hear a lot of crazy stories that go around campus, especially concerning liquor, drugs, some sketchy stuff that goes around… I like how [the trailer] shows a lot of the darker and more grungy areas within Miami – that’s a lot of areas in Miami, especially in South Miami where I live. You can see some more grungy liquor stores, the not-safe places, but also the kind of more high-rise luxury places like Brickell. I also liked how the trailer showed the different biomes and nature which is present in Miami, which a lot of people don’t know about.”
“I love how nightlife seems to be such a big part of the game, because it’s such a big part of Miami, too. I spotted a few obvious parodies [in the trailer]: at 17:36, they’re entering a club called Jack Of Hearts. I have to assume it’s a shout-out to the legendary Miami gentlemen’s club King of Diamonds, which is to Miami what Magic City is to Atlanta. There’s also a banner plane pulling an ad for Nine1Nine at 18:30… an obvious dupe for E11even, the megaclub/strip club that’s open 24/7 and is a reliable den of Miami hedonism. At around 9:40, the rooftop restaurant they go to really reminds me of Juvia, a very popular South Beach spot that’s now closed, but was probably open when they started developing the game. The name Effluvia also makes me think that’s what they had in mind. Hank’s waffles could be a little nod to Jimmy’s Diner, although the two don’t look alike…
Overall, I just think they did such a great job of capturing the texture of Miami. The streamers causing chaos, the tow truck driver in a fist fight in the middle of Ocean Drive – all things you might actually see on any given day in this city, unfortunately. The causeways – those bridges that take you from mainland Miami to Miami Beach – are almost perfect recreations. The ubiquity of banner planes in the sky is spot on for South Beach. The number of cranes dotting the skyline is also accurate for a city that’s pretty much constantly under construction. They’ve recreated entire city blocks in painstaking detail, and I really can’t wait to just drive around, which is probably the only time I’ve ever been excited about driving around in Miami.”