HDMI is the way to goooooooooooo!!!

Dang you should get a new one

i would like to but i can't currently

Component cables, aka RGB wires.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't read the whole thing. Did you go to display settings and put it at 720P and 1080P?

PS3 games don't look awful, YOUR PS3 hooked up to YOUR lame TV looks awful, lol. MY PS3 games look great on my 46" 1080 TV.

I dont have a ps3, but i would check all of your video setting if you moved it from another tv. Perhaps it has a low res setting which will make it look better. As far as cables go, from what i know a cable is a cable so unless it is broke buying a "better" one will not make a difference. Also your tv may have setting you could adjust also. Is your tv widescreen? i dont know what 480p is

I think it's because the games are natively 720p and they're downscaling. The 360 has a very good scaler in it, the PS3 not so much. The only way you're going to get the games looking good is by getting a new 720p-1080p TV.

By any chance, is your TV an earlier 1080i model (without 720p)??? or EDTV (480p)???

The Xbox 360 has a better scaler than the PS3. If you had a larger TV they would look pretty similar.

I used a component cable for the PS3 on my 26" hdtv and it looked fine.  It might have to adjust the settings.  However, the best thing to do is use a HDMI cable.  That's what I use now and the games look GREAT!