By Patrick Avenell

DURBAN, RZA: Anyone who has watched a World Cup match on TV will know a couple of things: vuvuzelas are annoying, penalty kicks are cruel and Sony is a major sponsor. Anyone who’s been to the World Cup can also tell you that Sony is quite popular over in South Africa.

FIFA’s premium electronics partner is a ubiquitous presence in the Rainbow Nation, with Sony dominating the airwaves with its television commercials, the streets with its Kaka billboards and the games themselves with its 3D experiential hubs.

Within every stadium precinct at the World Cup, Sony has established ‘3D Houses’, where fans can watch highlights of previous games in 3D before watching a game in true 3D (that is, in person). Whether it be the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban (one of the truly world class stadiums on the planet) or the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg (one of the most appalling structures ever built), Sony has a presence, promoting its wares to football fans around the world.

Current.com.au was in Durban for the game between Australia and Germany. Beforehand, fans of both nations, and local football buffs, queued up outside the Sony 3D House to watch highlights of Bafana Bafana’s unlikely draw with Mexico in the World Cup’s opening game.

The response was generally favourable, with the most common reaction being that the game does feel more alive on a 3D TV than in the traditional 2D format. Some fans, however, said they would struggle to watch a whole game in 3D, preferring rather to use the medium as a way of reliving highlights.
 

The Sony 3D House on the night of Australia v Germany.

An orderly queue forming to experience the World Cup in 3D.

Patrick Avenell travelled through South Africa between 11 and 29 June 2010.