Louvre and Nintendo aim to make art child’s play

The Louvre said it has teamed up with Nintendo to hand out 3D game consoles to guide visit-ors through its vast art collections.

Starting in March, the world’s most-visited museum will gradually replace its traditional audio-guides – used by just four per cent of its 8.5 million annual visitors – with 3DS pocket consoles.

“We are the first museum in the world to do this,” said Agnes Alfandari, the museum’s head of multimedia.The Japanese giant Nintendo is supplying 5,000 of the latest-generation consoles, which offer 3D vision without the need for special glasses, as part of a partnership with the museum.

Visitors will be able to locate themselves within the Louvre, choose themed itineraries including special ones for child-ren, and listen to hundreds of recorded commentaries, in seven languages, about the works on display.

Nintendo has developed the content for the consoles, with the Louvre remaining in editor-ial control, said Ms Alfandari.

Museum officials believe the scheme will appeal to people who are used to playing on a console at home, and are happier using a touch screen than a conventional audio-guide.

The Louvre has also just revamped its website, the world’s fourth most visited after New York’s Metropolitan Museum and Museum of Modern Art and the London Tate, to make it “more welcoming,” added Ms Alfandari.