You're helping my point.

She still calls the DS line "Game Boy" most of the time but occasionally calls the 3DS "DS" which is fine. The Wii was super easy for her and when I had a Wii U she called it "Wii". This is also good. My point is, by going with 3DS & 2DS instead of "DS2" how are they going to use the "DS" name again? Same with Wii U instead of Wii 2. They won't be able to use the name again.

This forces them to start from scratch next gen.

Well the first 4 consoles had Nintendo in the name. After the GC, I guess they wanted to get away from having the name in it for the Wii. It was probably in order to get more casual and non gamers on board, since the word "Nintendo" makes many non gaming people think "oh its just another machine for those gamers". Same with the name "GameBoy".

I think you can divide the Nintendo hardware brands into 2 groups, the pre- and post Wii/DS era.

Pre Wii/DS the brands were Nintendo (though the GC is kind of headscratcher) and Gameboy which were then ditched for Wii and DS. Those brand changes signalized changes in Nintendos whole hardware philosophy, which up to that point was about making powerful but affordable machines (which for the Gameboys meant low power consumption as well, which is why they weren't as cutting edge as other handhelds). It then became more about delivering something different and unique with the hardware, ignore the power aspect and be different.

Worked wonders with the Wii and DS, not so much with the Wii U and 3DS, one isn't catching on at all and the other certainly isn't selling because of its unique hardware feature (3D).

So Nintendo doesn't really fail at creating a brand (you could say that they fail at keeping one relevant, though the Gameboy brand would probably still work just as well as the DS brand nowadays) they just decided to change theirs because it didn't fit with their new philosophy (and in the case of home consoles the brand wasn't really working anymore) and I wouldn't at all be surprised if they do the same thing next gen.

Yeah, that wont confuse anyone.......

Yes, because the name "DS2" or " DS3" will totally work after the 2DS & 3DS. Naming it the 4DS would be just as confusing.

As for "Wii"? Well, I guess Wii 2 is possible but after killing the brand with the Wii U, I'd say it's already ruined.

Systems are different from games...

Stupidity on Nintendos part? The thing is officially referred to as "Nintendo Gamecube" (that's what it's called on Nintendos official site) but as should have been expected, what stuck was only Gamecube.

How do you know it didnt?

Well they would first have to realise that the WiiU is a new console and not an add-on for the Wii before figuring out that MK8 is a new game in the series I guess;)

I think people are missing the point here. Yes, Nintendo could be said to be the brand, but they clearly have a different family of brands around different hardware. "Wii" is definitely a brand, one they hoped to bank on with the Wii U. I think what the OP is referring to is a consistent hardware brand throughout their different iterations. It would be highly beneficial to Nintendo to come up with a brand name for their hardware and stick to it.

They do have brands, but in a different way that you want/expect.

Why did it change from Gameboy to DS? That was a big hardware transition. The Gameboy, Gameboy Colour, Gameboy Pocket, Gameboy Advance, Gameboy SP and Gameboy Micro are all under the same hardware brand, based on being in the same generation, having similar architecture and playing the same kinds of games.

The DS, DS Lite, DSi, and DSi XL signified that this is no longer related to the previous handheld brand, but is instead a new one. All the handhelds within that brand are related by being in the same generation, having similar architecture and playing the same kinds of games.

Then the 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS came along and....you get the idea.