Louvre goes visual with Nintendo 3Ds guide

"The classic, usual audio guide works better. I would have to search for the information that's on this, instead of just pressing the number" next to a work of art, said Naoyuki Tomizawa, a 41-year-old IT manager from Tokyo.

Then a Louvre staffer showed how the console can do that, too.

"Oh, I didn't notice that," Tomizawa replied. "I haven't played around with it enough. The navigation part's good, when you get lost and don't know where you are."

Meera Bickley, a 45-year-old yoga teacher from Byron Bay, Australia, said she arrived too late in the day — shortly before closing — and could have used more time to figure out the console.

"Once I figured out how to use it, it was definitely helpful. The imagery was great, the maps ... but actually finding my way in and being able to use it, was quite complex," she said. "I was born in the wrong decade!"

Indeed, her 14-year-old daughter, Matilda Dods, said it was easy.

"I figured it out immediately. It gives you instructions on the screen. It says: press 'A' to get this and press 'B' to get this ... it's easy to figure out," said Dods. "Mom is challenged."