The Louvre Bids Farewell to Nintendo 3DS Audio Guides: What’s Next?

The Louvre Museum will discontinue its Nintendo 3DS audio guide rentals in September 2025, replacing them with a new, yet-to-be-revealed system.

Ah, the march of progress—or so they call it. The Louvre, that grand old dame of art and history, is set to retire its Nintendo 3DS audio guides come September 2025. A notice on the museum’s website confirms the end of an era, though what will replace these handheld guides remains shrouded in mystery. Will it be the Nintendo Switch? A more traditional device? The Louvre isn’t telling, leaving us to ponder the future of museum navigation.

Since 2012, visitors have been able to rent these 3DS units for €6, a small price to pay for a guide that speaks in nine languages and offers high-resolution images of artworks. But perhaps its most lauded feature was its geolocation tracking, a godsend in the labyrinthine halls of the Louvre. With nearly 783,000 square feet to explore, losing one’s way was more a question of ‘when’ than ‘if.’

Nintendo’s own Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto once demonstrated the 3DS’s capabilities at the Louvre, a testament to the device’s role in blending technology with culture. As we bid adieu to this chapter, one can’t help but wonder: what will the next innovation be? Only time will tell.