Galaxy 2 is due to a 2010 release and no, neither Halo:ODST and NSMBWii will boost sales on the long term or even mid term. Maybe a two week boost and that is it.

I'd say this is the best answer. And not just because it's 2D, but also because it's multiplayer.

NSMBWii is something new to the Wii in terms of gameplay, while Halo:ODST isn't very differentiated from Halo 3. They'll both provide some push to hardware, any game that sells well does, but NSMBWii has a lot more potential in this regard.

I really cant see myself playing New super mario bros on Wii. I like playing 2d Marios on Ds.
Tho I think i'm about only one who was dissapointed in New Super Mario Bros on ds (finished it still 2 times) and Mario Galaxy (played 20 mins)..

NSMB>Galaxy

2D Mario has always been a big hardware mover

It boost Like Sky Rocket, but since it is the first SMBs on the Wii after like 200 years, so even hardcore gamers will want to check that out. Thus equaling a rise in HW sales

Well, I think Halo 3 ODST will move some consoles, at least initially. The game has a bundle, and seem like it will open at 2 million +, so of course it will move some, but not nearly as much as Halo 3. New Super Mario Bros. will sell some consoles as well, but not enough to get the Wii out of year over year declines by itself. But as other have said that is more because New Super Mario Bros. is not a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy, it is a different game, with a wider potential audience.

To answer the OPs question. New Super Mario Bros Wii is first Mario game with 2D game play on a Nintendo console since Super Mario World. SMW was released for SNES in 1991. Halo 3 was released in 2007.

I think Mario can still move hardware because Nintendo is continuously doing something new or revitalizing something old. For instance, NSMB will move hardware I think because it's like a 'brand new throwback'. Mario Party plays completely different from Mario. Paper Mario is a completely new kind of game. Mario Galaxy 2 is the only one I wouldn't expect to move hardware, as good as I expect the game to be (and I think it'll be great). It's fanbase already jumped in with Mario Galaxy, and Mario Galaxy's fanbase started with Mario 64. And then there is the beast that is Mario Kart.

Nintendo doesn't keep Mario as a sidescrolling platformer. They're constantly changing what Mario is defined as, and as such even if it's a completely radical game idea, people notice because it's Mario.

Halo is Halo. Whether they call it ODST, 3, 4, Reach..they're all going to play basically the same because they're all the same idea. They're all FPS (I think anyway, not sure on Reach?) The only Halo that went outside the box was Halo Wars, and RTS isn't going to move consoles ever. Unless we see Halo Kart or Master Chief Party 8 or something outside the realm of what Halo is known as, it won't move consoles because the people that like Halo for what it is already own 360's. When Halo expands to a broader audience, it may move hardware.

I have probably played more 2-D Mario games than anything else in my life... other than maybe Minesweeper and StarCraft.

This game will be huge.

And Galaxy comes out next year. This year is a level editing Mario puzzle-platformer game on DSiWare, a Mario & Luigi RPG on DS, and a 2-D 4-player co-op Mario on Wii.

Mario & Sonic is a sports party game and made by Sega. But it will also be huge. The first was huge, and this sequel is already looking better (I played a little at E3), and now has balance board support for the bobsled!

Well first of all Super Mario Galaxy 2 is coming out in 2010... and i don't think NSMBWii will have much effect on the Wii's sales -unless the Wii gets the rumored $50 price cut- simply because the Wii has already reached market saturation at its $250 price point.