E3, the video game industry's annual schmoozapalooza at the Los Angeles Convention Center, is no stranger to violence and fisticuffs. The action, admittedly, is usually relegated to in-game virtual brawls, but this year, when a fistfight between a game designer and a reputed hacker erupted on the convention floor, the action was as real as a punch in the eye.

At least that's how it looked to witnesses. But what they really saw was the climax of another chapter in the alternate-reality game The Art of the Heist, sponsored by Audi. Heist is the story of three characters involved ...