The game released on 19/01/1998 so the programmers just picked 01/01/97 as a date when the game couldn't be out, with 13/02/98 being added later once the release date was known

All other dates out with the 01/01/2097 to 14/2/2098 timeframe will be OK

— ohfivepro (@ohfivepro) May 23, 2021