A recent article in the Miami Herald mentions that the sunny city may be the next in taking legal action towards selling games to the wrong crowd.

Supposedly sparked by the infamous Grand Theft Auto:Vice City game, Miami has passed the first step in getting an ordinance to make selling or renting "violent" video games illegal.

Not surprisingly, the council is made up of a majority of Haitian-Americans -- Vice City makes comments such as "Kill the Haitians". The two non-Haitian members of the council voted against the proposal.

Like most other laws that deal with suggestive material, critics of the council's decision say it violates first amendment rights. However, the biggest controversy with this issue is that the tentative ordinance is much too vague. It prohibits "a video game or computer game that contains realistic or photographic-like depictions of aggressive conflict in which the player kills, injures, or otherwise causes serious physical harm to a human form in the game." It does not specify that it has to be an "M" rating. Thus, a 17-year-old who want to buy a suggestive "T" rated game may still need permission from his or her parent.

Vice City has been the subject of many other legal battles, from other cases similar to Miami's to being blamed for deaths allegedly influenced by the game's scenarios.

If the ordinance is passed, it will be the first one of its kind in Florida. Similar procedures have taken place in other parts of the country, and have become very controversial.