The Sacred Mirror of Kofun

The Sacred Mirror of Kofun is a 1996 puzzle video game/multimedia encyclopedia co-produced by Jean-Michel Cousteau with the cooperation of the National Center of Cinematography and the moving image and the French Ministry of Economy, Finances and Industry.

The educational portion of the game includes scuba diving with the aid of the Angel Shark diver propulsion vehicle, taking photographs of the sea fauna and then cataloguing them to EDWARD.

The player explores environments depicted through a large series of computer generated stills, using mouse clicks for movement or to manipulate objects within reach.

[3] In summer, a team consisting of oceanographers, photographers and a scriptwriter, led by Cousteau, transported equipment from Los Angeles to Chuuk Atoll, Micronesia.

Production lasted several weeks (one in Chuuk and 2 in Palau) during which they took several photographs and video footage around the island and the ocean; Cousteau and his team performed 4-5 dives a day.

[4] Since the game play was weak by gamers standards[5] special care was given to advertising which encompassed several media and highlight Cousteau's name and participation.

Shortly after the production of the game, and according to its success and financial backing, Cousteau considered a new interactive adventure in the freshwater caves of Yucatan and the blue holes of Belize,[3] however such plans did not come to fruition.