The video of Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto going round the Louvre in Paris with 3DS guides lives rent-free in my brain. To see these two legendary figures in the gaming world walking around one of the most prestigious museums on the planet laughing and joking while using their handheld to learn about art could well be one of the most wholesome videos in Nintendo history, and the 3DS has been helping people learn more about art and culture in minute detail since the Louvre started using the technology back in 2012.
For €6, visitors could rent a 3DS to take it around with them for an audio guide of the museum in either English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese (thanks Endgadget for the language rundown). Not only that, but those who rented a handheld could learn about the history of the Louvre itself as well as zoom in on tiny details of digital versions of the artwork in front of them to better understand how they were made and fully immerse themselves in their brilliance. They also have a geo-tracking feature to help you find out where you are, like the 'you are here' arrow on a map in a shopping mall.
All that is about to change, however, as after 13 years of loyal service, the Louvre is ditching the 3DS audio guide in favour of a new system. I wonder if they're suddenly going to get a bundle of Nintendo Switch Lites now that the Switch 2 is coming out or if they're going to go back to a traditional audio guide route. All that we know is that there's a notice on the official Louvre website stating that the 3DS audio guides will 'go out of operation in 2025.' So, if you still want to have the same kind of fun as Iwata and Miyamoto in the video above, then get over to Paris right away - you've got 3 months before they disappear!
