House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi probably picked up some votes among avid video gamers by shooting down an attempt by Chris Wallace of Fox News to link gun deaths with violence in video games.

On "Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace," the host asked Pelosi about proposals to study the connection between popular culture and violence just as viewers saw action video clips from "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" and "Grand Theft Auto."

"We don't need another study, respectfully," Wallace said. "I mean, we know that these video games where people have their heads splattered, these movies, these TV shows, why don't you go to your friends in Hollywood and challenge them, shame them, and say, 'Knock it off'? "

But Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said more scientific research is needed because "we don't just want to be anecdotally writing bills."

"The evidence says that in Japan, for example, they have the most violent games than the rest and the lowest mortality from guns," Pelosi said. "I don't know what the explanation is for that except they might have good gun laws."

Sites that cover the video game industry praised Pelosi for not automatically blaming video games for gun violence, as other politicians have.

"At least one congressional representative isn't willing to label games as the source of all violence," said VentureBeat.com's GamesBeat.

Owen Good, editor of Gawker Media's Kotaku.com, did note that Pelosi represents a region teeming with video game companies and said: "I'm sure her contributors include those in the industry."

"Japan may not like being characterized as home of the most violent games - that's rather sweeping," Good wrote. "But at least when someone - of considerable influence - was given the opportunity to make a politically safe scapegoating of games and those who enjoy them, she didn't take the bait."

GamesRadar.com noted a Washington Post story that said some of the world's safest countries were also where video games were most popular, except the United States.

"Of course, that's more likely because those countries are more affluent and safe for citizens overall than because of some beneficial property," GamesRadar said. "But if elected representatives and news anchors can pretend games are to blame for violence, then we can pretend games will lead us to a utopian society, right?"

- Benny Evangelista