I still do not believe that Nintendo ever planned to abandon 2D Mario games. I believe they would have released NSMB2 eventually regardless of 3DS sales levels, and then we still have the rumours of the Wii U launching with its own 2D Mario game, which we shall find out about at E3.
It is probable that they are releasing NSMB2 earlier than they ever intended though, due to the less than stellar start the 3DS endured. Given a ~1 year development time prior to its upcoming August release, it would roughly date back to the time of the price cut announcement after all, and I don't think that's a coincidence.
Still, they had MK7 planned for the first year of the 3DS, and it must be remembered that the last MK game outsold the last NSMB game quite comfortably. Given that we're talking about Nintendo needing to focus on games that sell, then that little tidbit cannot be ignored. That presents all the necessary justification for choosing to release MK7 first. That isn't an attempt to lessen the importance of NSMB, but I think the concept of having one truly big game every year with several smaller ones to support the rest of the year is a better strategy than unleashing two of your biggest sellers in the first year (and yes, I am categorising SM3DL as one of the support games) when you've got anywhere up to 7 years to fill.
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