Welcome to my small review of the audio-visual guide of the Louvre museum on Nintendo 3DS, a niche product available only at the Museum itself!
So a few weeks ago, my lovely wife when to Paris and she bought me a really fun addition to my big 3DS collection. It is not really a game, but it is a guide to the world-famous Louvre museum. The entry on the 3DS is a bit of an oddball as it is officially only sold in the Louvre itself and it is available in no less than 7 languages. I picked French because it is my second language, Dutch being my first. At the time that we bought it, they also had Italian, Japanese and Korean. I know for a fact that it is also available in English.
This addition to the 3DS library is basically a full guide for the museum and whether you play this software before or after your visit, it provides you with a very realistic approach to what the museum is all about. This “game” offers virtual tours to the Louvre museum and prepare to be amazed when you play this title. This is in no means a novelty item and brings a full museum visit to your tiny screen. This might be the sole issue I have with this title, it is all displayed on a small screen.
Obviously, if you really want to properly enjoy all the artwork, you have to really go visit the Louvre itself, which is one of my all time favorites. In this guide, you can perform a guided tour accompanied by beautiful pictures and audio commentary at your own pace. Whether you want to go from one to the next and just glance over them or instantly skip several to see that one piece you admire, this game does it all. It does provide a big and warming experience on the 3DS.
As this game also supports SpotPass, prepare to always have up to date audio and also the visuals update for the collection currently on display at the Louvre. Regretfully we were unable to test this out in person, I will update this article should I ever be able to do this.
The Louvre guide is also very complete, sporting over 30 hours worth of audio commentary and 600 pictures of art alone, do be prepared to be immersed in a cultural splash of art, like only the legendary museum Louvre can bring. Zoom in on art pieces to really enjoy them, this software has it all!
As this is no real game, it is not needed to really rate this game. It is a niche product and should be treated as such. I have no doubt that many will not bother to even look twice at this title, heck, I only got it because I am a collector of Nintendo games.
Do I regret it? Obviously not, despite mostly looking at it like a collector’s item, I did enjoy my last 1-hour tour of one of the Louvre wings and while I do doubt I will ever experience all 30 hours of audio commentary, I do want to do the guided tour part one day. Maybe next time I am back at the Louvre?
