The Louvre teams up with Nintendo for 3DS guides

The world's most visited art museum has taken a step toward a more tech-savvy future with a plan to gradually replace traditional audio guides with Nintendo 3DS consoles.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) is reporting that starting March 2012, the Louvre museum in Paris will begin using 5,000 of Nintendo's stereoscopic handhelds--supplied by the publisher--to guide some of its 8.5 million annual visitors through the roughly 35,000 art objects housed in the museum's vast palace.

According to the AFP, the partnership with Nintendo comes as part of a new strategy to ramp up digital incentives. Agnes Alfandari, the Louvre's head of multimedia, told the AFP that Nintendo developed the content for the consoles, with the museum remaining in editorial control of the program.

The museum consoles will reportedly allow visitors to locate themselves within the museum's grounds, choose themed itineraries tailored to adults or children, and listen to recorded commentaries about the works on display in seven languages.

According to the AFP, the Louvre believes the 3DS scheme will appeal to both console gamers and those comfortable using a touch screen. The museum is reportedly also planning smartphone and iPad applications that will allow visitors to preplan their visits.