Dr Cathy Chapple, of the School of Physiotherapy, has secured funding for the ''exergaming'' research, but with the consoles no longer sold new in New Zealand she wanted people to sell their old consoles to the school for the research.
''We could get some new from the United States, but we want to stretch the funding from Arthritis New Zealand as far as we can,'' Dr Chapple said.
The study would involve patients coming to the school once a week and playing on their Wii Fit at home twice a week.
Researchers will look at whether ''exergaming'' helps increase strength and decrease knee instability in patients with osteoarthritis
''Basically what we know is exercise is really helpful, but it's only helpful as long as people are doing it.''
Pain and muscle weakness were massive problems for people with osteoarthritis and exercise helped alleviate those symptoms. But keeping people exercising was a challenge and if they found exergaming fun and it worked to build strength, it could be used as ''another tool'' for sufferers.
Dr Chapple believed any findings would be relevant to other forms of exergaming.
''We are looking at outcomes of both strength and enjoyment, and these two elements would stand for any type of gaming intervention.''
Anyone with a spare Wii Fit could email Dr Chapple at cathy.chapple@otago.ac.nz. Any consoles could be used for further research the school has planned.
