This firmware is code, and code is speech[0]. Any law making speech illegal is unconstitutional. I'm puzzled as to why the DMCA (or this part of it) hasn't been overturned yet.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junger_v._Daley

We all do illegal things all the time, I’m fine knowing that this one goes in the “bad” pile. I’m sure something terrible will happen to me soon.

The legality is subject to the court’s opinion, and a court is not compelled to interpret the situation the same way you do. Their job is to interpret written laws using their opinions and available case law, and also to pass human judgments on laws that aren’t encoded in machine-parseable structures (such as fair use rights). Declaring this particular instance illegal this early requires more case law references than you’ve provided.

Is it actually breaking DRM? Or is it just creating a 1:1 copy of a proprietary format?

> Game consoles that are supported include the original Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Wii, and Dreamcast. Physical media from other consoles, such as PlayStation 3, 4, 5, and the Xbox One/Series consoles, technically work, but the content on physical media for these consoles is encrypted.

Breaking encryption is definitely “illegal” - but backing up a binary format is not. I can backup my GBA cartridges ROMs for personal archival use if I have a device that can read them.