I'm running a 320 thermal and it kills pigs just fine, I can tell pigs from cows out to as far as I can see on the properties I hunt (less than 400 acres) but if someone came out with a 1280 for $3,500 I'd be running up the credit card in a hurry.
Guess what I'm saying is, I don't need it when I can't afford it, I can make do with low specifications that I can afford, but when the prices come down those cool features become must haves.
There is a balance, no doubt. "Need" is often a very subjective concept when talking about gear like this. If 320 is working for your situation, that is great. I have told this story before, but when I was doing demos for Third Coast Thermal, we sold a bunch of Pulsar Core RQX30Vs to people and most folks either returned them (because they really did have a crappy image) or kept it as a scanner and guest scope and bought a second, better scope. One guy, however, loved his. He didn't have much money to spend and wasn't a hunter, but he did have a barnyard with chickens and coyotes/coons/skunks were common problems in his barnyard. Most of his shooting was inside 25-50 yards and I think his barnyard limit was only 75. The Core was good enough to tell the difference between a coyote/coon/skunk and a chicken at those distances and he was able to protect his chickens. He didn't own any dogs or cats and so wasn't worry about distinguishing between his pets and the raiders. He was quite happy with his purchased because it was the cheapest thermal available at the time and it did exactly what he needed.
I hunted with the Core for several hunts and came to absolutely hate it. It worked, but as the shooter, I hate to work hard trying to sus out identifications and often orientations (which is the front end) of the critters I was thinking I was going to shoot. In an open field with ground level vegetation only, I could ID hogs beyond 100-150 yards, but that was largely by behavior. Add in 12-18" grass and things got hinky. Looking through the core was like looking through thermal you could never quite focus. It was functional in limited circumstances, but frustrating to use in virtually all of them.
I run Trijicons now and when I hunt with folks running lesser optics, I often have to identify questionable targets for them. However, there are still times when I can have trouble distinguishing between calves and hogs given vegetation and atmospheric conditions. The same goes for coyotes and fawns. I have put the stalk on more than one pig shaped rock as well. I would gladly welcome better technology.