The components of video games make it by far the most unique kind of artistic medium possible by virtue of combining the main defining traits of other mediums. This is not all that gaming can offer, but uniting these traits allows for an unparalleled level of worldbuilding, attention to detail, immersion, and broad narrative and philosophical storytelling. In fact, thinking about what kinds of sensory stimulation are present in gaming easily reveals how much it has in common with other mediums of art/entertainment. Other mediums are merely defined wholly or mostly by the individual traits that gaming includes as just a part of its nature as a medium.
Text is a vital part of many games, especially older ones that debuted before voice acting became normalized. Even games with voice acting might still have an option for subtitles. Cinematics and audio, as is the case with film and television, are also part of many video games. Passive visual media that requires the viewer to just watch and listen is already a component of modern gaming as a whole. Then there is the obvious thing that sets gaming apart from all other artistic mediums--the sometimes relentless level of interaction that is required to even play or advance to begin with.
With books, the reader must actually read unless they want to blankly turn through he pages. With films and television/streaming, the viewer must pay attention or else they will not truly connect with the story. Unlike reading, the visual mediums other than video games do not need users to literally go from one point to another at their own pace, and also unlike reading, the visual mediums other than video games have more potential to set up a world because of the expanded types of details that can be included. Gaming can encompass all of this and more, telling a far lengthier and more developer tale in a single game than is usual for a single book, movie, or season of a show.
The interactivity that is inherent in gaming to at least some extent even further sets it apart as a medium. This is not to say that strictly written or cinematic mediums tell or can be used to tell only lesser stories with a miniscule scope, undeveloped themes, and limited characters. This is certainly not the case! It is just that gaming is by nature a more expansive and immersive type of medium in that it literally spans more senses or kinds of input than the others do. As such, gaming has the potential for certain kind of artistic and thematic experiences that are more unique, even if some stories are better suited for one or more films, books, or seasons of a television show.
No one who subjectively prefers other mediums to gaming automatically has an irrational stance on entertainment/art, as one can have a subjective preference for one thing while fully realizing its differences from another thing. Some people would simply rather read or watch something and not have to actively make decisions that will affect a story, explore, solve puzzles, or succeed in combat in order to get to some other part of the experience. It is still true that gaming alone takes the elements of all other artistic mediums, like sound, text, images, and cinematics, and merges them together while adding what the other mediums could by necessity never have without beckoning something different.
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