Why do some photos look worse when zoomed in

[SonyMavica]

lets say i used an old sony point a shoot 2mp camera
and then used my 12mp cannon camera

both camera used the same setting or as close as i could make them taking a photo in the same spot both camera shooting at 2mp

the older camera when zooming in on the photo looks better why is this? but when not zoomed in the both look about the same quality

why is this

 

[480sparky]

"Let's say..." means you haven't actually done this?

 

[SonyMavica]

"Let's say..." means you haven't actually done this?

yes i have done this

 

[480sparky]

Pixel pitch can affect quality, as well as the lens.

 

[Rickbb]

Maybe the older camera has optical zoom and the newer one has digital zoom.

And how did you “make” the 12mp camera shoot at 2mp?