It had loads of good games! Ninja Gaiden, Otogi 1 & 2, Far Cry Instincts, Crimson Skies, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Metal Wolf Chaos, Project Gotham Racing, Jade Empire, Fable, Outrun 2006, Splinter Cell, Burnout, Chronicles of Riddick, Conker, Psychonauts, Unreal Championship 2, Oddworld, Forza, etc.
For me, it was the timed exclusivity of MGS2 substance
Ninja Gaiden was so fraking hard! At some point I used an invincibility hack and still gave up at some point! But it was pretty cool. Played Halo 1 & 2, PGR a lot, JSRF was just awesome even though I never finished that either. Fable just wasn't my thing, but had a lot of fun in DoA3 with friends.
I managed to beat Ninja Gaiden as a teen. I have no idea how I pulled it off (it wasn't in Ninja Dog mode either). Sadly I no longer have the necessary hand-eye coordination :(
To me, Jet Set Radio Future was worth buying the entire console back in the day. Halo was just a nice bonus.