3DS Now Avaliable In The Louvre
Nintendo's 3D console makes prestigious museum debut as a handheld tour guide.
It might sound like a sneaky plan to entertain bored children with a session of Mario Kart, but the addition of 3DS consoles to the prestigious Louvre Museum in France actually serves as more of a unique cultural partnership. Replacing the aging technology used to give visitors an audio tour around the museum, Nintendo's 3DS consoles have been modified to offer art lovers a special handheld guide to the many exhibits of the Louvre. The Nintendo developed application called "Audioguide Louvre" has been designed to give a variety of audio and visual tours around the museum, while the app also allows for interactive navigation and maps, and 3D images and animations of various exhibits. As well as making use of the consoles glasses-free 3D screen, the application features over 700 commentaries on the Louvre's exhibits and the historic building itself. Users can also select from a variety of unique tours, by choosing from preset guides such as "Masterpieces" and "Egypt for all the family". If they prefer, users can also tailor their own experience by trawling through the hefty content within the guide. 
Managing Director of the Louvre, Mr. Barbaret, says "I'm particularly pleased that our partnership with Nintendo has taken this new form today, thanks to the new multimedia audio guide on the Nintendo 3DS system. Through this partnership, we wanted to bring together heritage and the innovative world of interactive entertainment through a system many people are already familiar with." Nintendo President Shigeru Miyamoto was also on hand at the launch of the partnership. He says "Nintendo is honoured that the Nintendo 3DS system will be able to support and provide this exclusive audio guide to such a renowned and popular art museum. Nintendo's experience within the development of games that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of age and gender, has been utilised with the aim that visitors to the Louvre museum will have further enriched opportunities to experience the exhibits on offer." The news comes as Nintendo's 3DS continues to go from strength to strength and offers a bond between gaming and art that's rarely been seen in the past. It will also be interesting to see how Nintendo incorporate the technology in the future, with the "audio guide" application clearly looking to pave the way for similar uses of the 3DS. (Source - Nintendo)