In 2012, the Louvre formed a partnership with Nintendo to use the 3DS console (released in 2011) as a guide to the Paris Museum. For more than a decade, the Louvre ended its service on Monday.
For the partnership, Nintendo borrowed 5,000 equipment from the museum, and visitors could then rent it for a few euros. The units house a multimedia library containing over 700 works, including images, videos, and 3D models. Users can also use geographic locations to create personalized tours based on the location of the museum. More than 30 hours of audio reviews were also loaded.
At the time of launch, smartphones were not yet everywhere, and rental services that replaced traditional audio guides were very popular. Nintendo even released The Louvre Guide as an indie gaming cartridge that is available for anyone to buy.
However, the Nintendo Switch upgraded the 3DS to 2017 in 2017, and Nintendo completely stopped the portable console product in 2020. During this time, smartphones have certainly become the object of most users looking for information about art or exhibitions.
The Louvre has not announced an alternative to the 3DS guide system.
