Why Can't Nintendo Create a Steady Brand?

By brand, I don't mean Mario, Pokemon, or another game series. What I mean is, hardware. While Sony has "Playstation" & Microsoft has "XBox" Nintendo has...?

Nintendo has gone with many different names and seems to kill a name off instead of attempting to grow it. Why is this?

NES - SNES...N64? ...GameCube?

Wii - Wii U...???

Game Boy - Game Boy Color - Game Boy Advance...DS?

DS - DSi - 3DS - 2DS...?

Why did they even leave the NES brand? I'm assuming this was because where do you go after "Super"? Calling the SNES "NES 2" would've aloud the name to continue. Instead, they went somewhere else. N64. Where could they have possibly taken this name even if it was highly successful? I understand why they ditched the GC name, because they were going a different direction and it was unsuccessful (as far as sales) but look at XB 360.

Anyway, then they have "Wii". Finally, another huge console for Nintendo. The follow up should obviously be called "Wii 2" right? Nope, we get "Wii U". Why? Even if it was selling like Hotcakes, what could a potential successor be called? That's what I thought.

The HH's do the same. After calling it "GB Advance" they couldn't really go anywhere even if the DS wasn't made. Again, they found a highly recognized name. What do they do with it? 3DS & 2DS...yeah, that's not confusing and won't destroy any potential of a future HH using the "DS" name.

Now, before you say "Nintendo" being in front is strong enough. Is it really? 

I think from the beginning it has been just "Nintendo".
"Nintendo" Entertainment System
Super "Nintendo" Entertainment System
"Nintendo" 64
"Nintendo" Gamecube etc.

>Why does Nintendo fail at making a brand?
For a 100+ year old company, I don't think they have a problem with branding. These are just product names. Like the former Vio series laptops or the Dell Optiplex or Vita, or Surface.

Wii is simple, and rolls off the tongue. I could argue it's the best sounding name because anyone can say it no problem. It's simple to type and it's associated with fun and Nintendo. I can say the same for the Gameboy line and the DS line and the Nintendo line (NES, SNES, N64). Gamecube was named for it's shape and what it did. Wii U is a continuation of the Wii play together philosophy.

That's actually quite right lol. From the early days we got an N64, my parents started calling everything that's related to gaming 'The Nintendo'. Literally everything... even if there is a big writing that says PS4 or whatever, it's still 'The Nintendo'.

Rareware did it for them in the past. Biggest loss in Nintendo history, even bigger than the Sony SNES CD-Rom drive.

I think they simply reply on the Nintendo name itself.

It's worked well for their handhelds, but not so much their home consoles.

Now, before you say "Nintendo" being in front is strong enough. Is it really?
Yes. Because all they do is games they don't need a second brand name. Regardless of the console most people who don't know gaming all that well simply refer to them as a Nintendo, PlayStation or Xbox. Nintendo is their brand name.

Nintendo is a Game Development company.

Do people refer to the systems in that way though? Remember, this is about general consumer appeal not core gamers. 

When I hear people talk about systems (anyone from my core gamer friends, to my mother) they don't say "Sony PS2" they simply say "PS2" or "Playstation" if they don't know the actual number. Same with "XBox".

My mom knows what a "Playstation or "XBox" is. She knew what a "Game Boy" was. Once the DS came out, she had no clue what it was. After I got one, she'd still call it a "Game Boy" even today, she refers to any HH we have as a "Game Boy". Is something wrong with my mother? No. She is a smart woman. Yet, she is obviously uninformed when it comes to gaming. This is how the general consumer must be treated. This is esspecially true for Nintendo since a big market for them are children and families.

I just noticed, not a single one of their "brands" has ever seen growth between gens :p In sales:

NES > SNES,
GB > GBA,
DS > 3DS,
Wii > WiiU.

It's likely just a coincidence (correlation does not imply causation and all that), but it's still interesting to note.