Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre

Genre: Educational / Simulation / Misc.

Players: 1

.

Review:

Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre, released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2013, is a fairly unique piece of software on the Nintendo 3DS that acts as a sort of virtual museum, allowing players to explore the layout and exhibits of what is likely the most famous museum in the world, the Louvre museum in Paris, France. This software not only contains 3D images of the Louvre’s many artworks, but also 3D photos from within the museum itself, as well as audio recordings of tour guides detailing the history of the artworks and the museum itself.

This software has an interesting history, at first only available at the Louvre itself via rentable Nintendo 3DS units with the software installed, though eventually selling on the eShop for $20, with a physical copy purchasable at the Louvre’s gift shop. I have no idea if these copies are still sold, but I suspect not, and I don’t see any copies hanging out on eBay either. In other words, if you want it, get it on the Nintendo 3DS eShop before the eShop closes in March 2023 (later this month!)

Before going on, I should take a moment to address a few things that this software is not. This is nothing like a First-Person simulated experience – you can view 3D photos from throughout the museum, and consult the museum’s map to see where you would find your current location and move to other nearby locations via that map, but you won’t be smoothly moving through a 3D recreation of the museum.

Additionally, time has gone on in the decade since this software released, and the layout and the artworks contained within may well have changed locations, been replaced with other artworks, or may be gone entirely, and the game has no way of realistically reflecting these changes. If it helps, I suppose you can think of this game as a snapshot of what the Louvre museum would have been like in 2013.

However, within those limitations, this Application does its best to provide players as many options as possible to enjoy and appreciate the museum and its artworks. If you don’t care about the museum and just want to look at 3D photographs of its exhibits, there’s a handy searchable database where you can hop right to the artworks in question. If you prefer, you can take one of the application’s “guided tours” that leads you through one of the routes through the museum, with an audio guide talking about both the museum and its artworks along the way. Alternately, you can choose to roam the museum freely, using the touchscreen to tap on parts of the map that interest you, and optionally clicking on icons to hear curators inform you about that particular section of the museum, or the artworks.

The curators here speak in their own language (i.e. French), with a translator’s voice playing over it. You can pause, rewind, or stop these guides and curators, and aren’t required to keep pace with anyone, even though one tour implies you need to keep step with audible footsteps. At some points, you can even hear brief audio recordings of the crowd inside the Louvre, which is a nice touch and I wish this software included more stuff like this to build the atmosphere.

Could this software have done even more? Certainly, it would have been nice to have a seamless 3D experience with even more detailed sound for the museum, but for a $20 piece of software, Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre is a pretty comprehensive tour of a truly legendary museum. And given that actual tickets to the Louvre currently cost 15€ (approximately $16), not to mention the price of an airline ticket, hotel, and so on, the cost of this software seems extremely reasonable. If you’re curious to get a rough idea of what it would be like to visit the Louvre without actually going to all that effort, Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre should be well worth the price.

tl;dr – Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre is a simulated trip to the famous Louvre museum in Paris, with a searchable database of artworks, audio “tours” of both those artworks and the museum itself. While the simulated elements of the museum could have been more extensive than this, this Application is overall an excellent and relatively inexpensive alternative to taking a trip to France, even if it couldn’t possibly replicate the full experience of seeing these artworks in person.

Grade: B

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}